Steelers receive perfect grade for amazing return on Chase Claypool trade

The Pittsburgh Steelers were able to hit the jackpot just before the NFL trade deadline. Here’s why they received a perfect grade for trading Chase Claypool.

With just hours before the 2022 NFL trade deadline, it appeared as if the Pittsburgh Steelers were going to be content to let the clock settle on the evening. However, in a flurry of moves happening all over the NFL, fans were shocked to see that the Steelers had traded away wide receiver, Chase Claypool.

My first reactions were shock and awe. Historically, this is uncharted territory for a team that typically likes to bolster its roster before the trade deadline; not send talented players packing. However, it should be impossible for Steelers fans to get upset about this deal when they consider the compensation the Chicago Bears had to give up in order to acquire the young receiver.

Rumors all along suggested that Pittsburgh wouldn’t be willing to part with Claypool unless they received at least a second-round pick. This seemed far-fetched at the time for a struggling wide receiver who was third or fourth in line for targets on any given week for the Steelers. However, Pittsburgh received an offer they couldn’t refuse.

After the Bears acquired a second-round pick from the Ravens in the Roquan Smith trade, they had no problem executing this deal for Claypool with the Steelers. However, fans were ecstatic when Adam Schefter confirmed that it was Chicago’s original second-round pick the Steelers were receiving in the deal; not Baltimore’s second-round pick as was initially rumored.

Steelers receive A+ in Chase Claypool trade

Considering that they were able to get far more than anyone could have reasonably predicted, I have to give the Pittsburgh Steelers an A+ in being able to execute this deal. There should be a bottle of champagne with Andy Weidl’s and Omar Khan’s names on it for this one.

This past offseason, the Dallas Cowboys sent a multiple-time Pro Bowl receiver in Amari Cooper to the Cleveland Browns for a fifth-round pick. Claypool, on the other hand, went for much steeper compensation despite his struggles in 2022 operating as the team’s third receiver and big slot option.

To be fair, Claypool did have respectable back-to-back seasons to begin his NFL career — earning just over 850 yards in both 2020 and 2021, via ESPN stats. He also chipped in 13 total touchdowns during this time. However, through 8 games this year, the big wide-out has earned just 311 yards and 1 touchdown on 9.7 yards per reception. His 6.2 yards per target are two full yards lower than the number he saw last year.

It was abundantly clear that the Steelers were not going to sign Claypool to a contract extension during the 2023 offseason, so instead of letting him walk away in hopes of getting a late-round compensatory pick, Khan and Weidl took a proactive approach and dealt him for a potentially high second-round pick to a WR-needy team before the deadline.

If the season ended today, this would be the 43rd pick in the 2023 NFL Draft, according to Tankathon.com. However, there’s a chance this pick could be somewhere in the 30s — depending on how the Bears finish the season. Pittsburgh can now take this elite draft capital and use it to build their trenches and hopefully add a cornerstone player to their roster.

With Claypool’s severe drop in production and the fact that he’s getting ready to enter a contract year, I could have never seen the Pittsburgh Steelers getting a high second-round pick out of him at this point. I give them a perfect grade for being able to execute this trade just before the deadline.