Steelers Had Trade on Table During NFL Draft

The Pittsburgh Steelers were able to end up in a position with the 20th pick that left them with a plethora of options. They had much of their first-round draft board available, including Graham Barton, Cooper DeJean, and eventual selection Troy Fautanu.

However, Brady Henderson of ESPN has said that general manager Omar Khan called up the Seattle Seahawks to attempt to land an earlier selection.

“In the meantime, the Seahawks were discussing trade-back scenarios with the Pittsburgh Steelers (who picked 20th), Philadelphia Eagles (22nd), Minnesota Vikings (23rd), Green Bay Packers (25th) and Atlanta Falcons (43rd), according to sources,” Henderson wrote.

The Seahawks did not end up making the trade, selecting Byron Murphy, but Khan later told the media that the attempt to trade up would have led to the same player selected.

“We were working the phones hoping the opportunity was there to draft Troy,” Khan said on the Pat McAfee Show. “Fortunately, he was still there at 20 when we weren’t able to get a deal done. But we got him at 20 and I can’t tell you how excited we are to have him. He’s a Steeler.”

While the team was worried they were not going to be able to land the guy they wanted, and therefore attempted the trade up, the QB frenzy led to a large amount of non-QB prospects to be on the board for the Steelers to take.

With the Steelers taking Fautanu at 20, they were able to make a selection they were happy about without giving up either player or draft capital.