Steelers newest trade acquisitions breakdown from cut down day

The Steelers were active in the trade market during cut down day and got some depth at weak positions. 

Final cut-down day is something many NFL coaches hate to see come by. They must make tough decisions and cut many players careers short. The Steelers, and the other 32 teams in the NFL, had to get down to their 53-man roster objective one way or another. That normally means a lot of players becoming available that many did not expect.

A flood of waiver claims and free agency action normally picks up during this small stretch of time. This is an incredibly last-ditch effort for teams to improve their roster before the regular season begins. Pittsburgh did not get awarded any waiver claims, but they did trade for a few depth pieces along the way. It was also not reported that the black and gold even put in a waiver claim since the final cuts were announced.

Steelers traded for offensive line help for almost nothing

The offensive line has been the notorious story for the Steelers since last season concluded. It has not been good enough and the starters still seem to be shaky at best. The front office got to work and tried to improve the depth of the group via trade. Joe Haeg was a surprising release after many thought he was the only qualified depth guy on the roster at that point.

Pittsburgh went out and made a deal with the Minnesota Vikings that sent a conditional 2025 seventh-round pick their way. The black and gold received offensive lineman Jesse Davis in return. This lineman is nothing special and seems like a Haeg-type of player, but he does have a ton of starting experience in the NFL. Davis has played every position in the trenches besides center. That attracted the team to this player besides him not being the highest of quality.

Malik Reed was added to bring a true third option coming off the edge

One of the biggest question marks for the Steelers was figuring out the depth behind their starting outside linebackers. Genard Avery was brought in during free agency, but he was a shocking early release from the team. Everything lined up so the club could try to address this need one way or another before the regular season began. There was no way that they would only have Derek Tuszka and some other young guy as the only depth pieces at the position.

Malik Reed was the answer for Pittsburgh as the team sent a 2023 seventh-round pick to the Denver Broncos for a 2023 sixth-round pick. Reed was a highly productive player with the Broncos and has been able to put up some quality pass rush numbers.

Reed will be the third option at outside linebacker and will be a big upgrade over some of these other guys that were the only options before. The former Broncos edge rusher reportedly asked to be traded to the Steelers when Denver asked him places he would like to go to if they could pull off a deal.

The Steelers were able to improve their team by paying pennies on the dollar via trade. These players should be able to strengthen the depth at different positions for this club.