Steelers at a Crossroads: Should Pittsburgh buy or sell before trade deadline?

Making the case for Steelers to sell at the trade deadline

The less-popular option among the fan base no doubt has to be selling at the trade deadline. This is something that Kevin Colbert rarely did in his tenure as general manager due to the fact that Pittsburgh was always looking for ways to improve and compete down the stretch.

However, as I have previously noted, we have seen success with selling at the trade deadline just last year under the direction of Omar Khan. It was easy to see that Claypool simply wasn't a natural football player; it's why the Bears quickly gave up on him and shipped him off to Miami for pennies on the dollar.

Because of this proactive move, the Steelers aren't left with an underwhelming, inconsistent receiver entering a contract year. Instead, they have a young, talented cornerback who is looking like a future staple of this roster. Pittsburgh has a few pieces that other teams would love to get ahold of before the deadline, and they could be rewarded handsomely if they were willing to part with them.

Of course, selling is never what a team does when they are in a Super Bowl window. But do you believe that the Steelers are good enough to compete for a championship right now? Entering their Week 6 bye, Pittsburgh is near the bottom of the league in point differential, and their offense seems to be more than just a piece or two away from being a respectable unit.

Nobody wants to think this way, but sometimes stockpiling draft capital in an effort to build for the future is better than naively continuing with business as usual. It's very easy to see how much more talented a team like the Miami Dolphins are right now. Selling would allow Omar Khan to hit the reset button on some of the bad draft decisions and free-agent moves Colbert made in his final years as GM.