NFL announces trade deadline date, Steelers could be active

If the Pittsburgh Steelers didn't have much incentive to be active at the trade deadline before, they do now. Just hours before the window to trade players was slammed closed in 2022, Omar Khan traded Chase Claypool to the Chicago Bears for their second-round pick. This ultimately turned into the 32nd overall selection and was used to select Joey Porter Jr. in the 2023 NFL Draft.

This wasn't their only successful trade prior to the deadline. In September of 2019, Pittsburgh traded for former first-round safety, Minkah Fitzpatrick. Since making the move, Minkah has been a star -- earning three First-Team All-Pro honors.

Recently, NFL insider Jonathan Jones of NFL on CBS announced that the 2023 NFL trade deadline will be on October 31st at 4: p.m. Eastern Time.

Unsurprisingly, this is a very similar time frame to the November 1st trade deadline we saw last season. This year's trade deadline will be on a Tuesday, and all trades must be completed by 4:00 p.m. on Halloween.

Steelers have plenty of reason to be interested in a trade prior to the deadline

Pittsburgh's two most recent big-time trades are already paying dividends. The Steelers struck gold on the deal for Minkah Fitzpatrick. The spectacular safety is on a Hall of Fame pace in terms of statistical production and individual accolades.

Joey Porter Jr. is a complete projection at the moment, but the Steelers were extremely fortunate to land a player of his magnitude. Many believed that Porter was destined to be a mid-first-round pick in the 2023 NFL Draft, and he's clearly a better prospect coming out than the project that was Chase Claypool. The Steelers ditched him at the right time as it appears the Bears are already unhappy in Claypool.

The success the front office has had making trades ahead of the deadline would suggest that Khan and his staff should be wide open to pulling the trigger again if the opportunity presents itself. Just looking at the current makeup of the roster, if the Steelers trade away a player, it could be an offensive lineman.

Now that the team finally has good depth on the OL, you'd hate to see them trade players away. But if Kevin Dotson is still sticking around and not earning a helmet on game days by the time the 2023 trade deadline comes around, they could ship him to a team desperate for help at offensive guard.

Obviously, Dotson wouldn't land the same haul as the naive Bears were willing to give up for an athletic receiver like Claypool. However, even a Day 3 pick would be better than not using Dotson at all and simply letting him walk following the 2023 season.

I also wonder if there's a team out there who would be willing to trade for a young offensive tackle with starting experience like Dan Moore Jr. Having a quality swing tackle is very valuable, so it would probably be in Pittsburgh's best interest just to hold onto him. However, a mid-round pick from a tackle-desperate team could possibly be enough to sway them.

Under the new leadership of Omar Khan and Andy Weidl, the Steelers seem more likely to trade away a player for draft capital than spend a high pick to bring somebody in, but this isn't out of the question either. We have seen this team make some aggressive moves since the 2023 offseason began, and thanks to the success they have had making deals before the deadline, I wouldn't be surprised to see trade activity from Pittsburgh again in 2023.