With a 6-2 record entering Week 10, the Pittsburgh Steelers have high hopes this year. A once-daunting second-half schedule now looks relatively easy, and aspirations to be the No. 1 seed in the AFC are not so far-fetched.
But another AFC contender just showed Mike McCarthy and Omar Khan why they are a more serious football team than the Steelers.
With just one day until the clock sets on the November 10 NFL trade deadline, Jacksonville Jaguars general manager James Gladstone was not content with sitting on his hands. The 36-year-old GM made an aggressive move to land Pro Bowl safety Jessie Bates from the Atlanta Falcons.
This didn't come cheap either. To secure one of the league's best ballhawks, the Jaguars sent a 2027 second-round pick and a 2028 fifth-round pick to Atlanta. The Falcons, meanwhile, didn't have a ton of incentive to sell, as their division (the NFC South) is wide open, with no team better than 3-5 at the moment.
But Gladstone made the Falcons an offer they couldn't refuse—and he understands that it's about maximizing on windows. He wasn't finished.
Just hours after making the trade for Bates, the Jaguars traded their 2027 first-round pick and a 2029 second-round pick to the Philadelphia Eagles for defensive tackle Jordan Davis, ESPN's Adam Schefter reported.
And just like that, one of the most threatening teams in the AFC just got more dangerous.
The Pittsburgh Steelers should be pursuing a needle-moving trade before the deadline
The AFC might never be more wide open than it is right now. Aside from the Jaguars—who are the most complete team in the conference (and just got better with their trades)—every other AFC contender has a major weakness.
The Buffalo Bills and Cincinnati Bengals, for example, both have awful defenses and will likely rely on shootouts against quality teams to advance deep into the postseason. The Denver Broncos and Kansas City Chiefs, on the other hand, have lackluster offenses that struggle to move the ball through the air.
For five straight games now, the Steelers have been one of the best teams in the NFL at running the football (thank you, Jaylen Warren). They've also been able to stop opposing rushing attacks at a high level. These two areas of dominance already give them a fighting shot.
But another roster addition before the trade deadline could go a long way.
I'm not suggesting the Steelers should have beaten the Jaguars to a trade for Davis or Bates. That wouldn't have made a ton of sense. But Omar Khan should be doing his homework and calling a collection of teams to find the best wide receivers and cornerbacks available.
These are two positions the Steelers could stand to improve. And if there's a difference-maker ripe for the picking, what's to stop them from making a move? After all, isn't Khan trying to capitalize on a fleeting window with a soon-to-be 43-year-old Aaron Rodgers and one of the league's oldest defenses?
The Steelers are expected to have a much harder schedule next year, as they'll play the AFC West and NFC West. If 2026 is the year to strike against unspectacular competition—and that certainly appears to be the case—Khan needs to take a note from James Gladstone's playbook and go after a player or two who can really move the needle for this team.
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