5 Steelers who survived the trade deadline, but are on thin ice

Now that the trade deadline has passed, these Steelers could struggle to survive in Pittsburgh.
New York Jets v Pittsburgh Steelers
New York Jets v Pittsburgh Steelers / Joe Sargent/GettyImages
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Pittsburgh might not have made any "splash" moves before the trade deadline passed, but they were active. Fans wanted to see the Steeler's front office support the team's success and invest different capital in return for players that could help them this season. Omar Khan heard your cries for reinforcements and found two deals that should help the black and gold for the remainder of the year.

Mike Williams landed with the black and gold after weeks of rumors surrounding him and the Steelers. He should provide a legit starting option at receiver and become a down-the-field threat. Preston Smith was the trade that came out of nowhere. Pittsburgh wanted to secure depth at outside linebacker, and they did that by adding Smith. He is a quality veteran guy who rounds out that group nicely.

Steelers that could struggle in Pittsburgh after trade deadline

Van Jefferson

Trying to find Van Jefferson's fit after the Williams trade is hard to come up with. He has been struggling to keep his job in recent weeks, especially since Calvin Austin III started to come alive. With Williams in the fold, it seems possible that Jefferson will start to see a decrease in snaps. He remains a quality depth option, but it will be up to him to try and overcome the odds and beat out Williams.

Jeremiah Moon

When Nick Herbig is back from injury, it seems like Jeremiah Moon could be off the roster sooner or later. The Steelers just added Smith since they were concerned about the depth at outside linebacker behind their three pass rushers. That spells doom for a depth guy like Moon. Unless he can become a standout special teams player immediately, he could be cut from Pittsburgh.

READ MORE: Steelers shock everyone and pull off another trade

Broderick Jones

He might not be in danger at the moment, but Broderick Jones is getting dangerously close to draft-bust territory. He has been terrible this year, and the worst part is not much improvement has been shown. Unless he has a quality second half to the season, the Steelers should be looking at every option to replace him as their future left tackle. Jones's lack of development remains a big problem.

Beanie Bishop

One "acquisition" the Steelers made over the bye week that cost no draft picks was Cam Sutton. He has been suspended for the first half of the campaign. It will be interesting to see how the black and gold decide to deploy Sutton. Beanie Bishop had a bad start to the year, but he started to come around over the past three games. Sutton will get snaps, but Bishop deserves to stay on the field.

Justin Fields

Unless Russell Wilson falls apart as the Steelers starting quarterback, Justin Fields will not see much action. Pittsburgh has routinely said they have a "special" set of plays for Fields, but those have not been put into action since Wilson has taken over. Fields did not take the top quarterback job during his starts this season, which will hurt his chances of any possibility of staying in the Steel City.

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