The Steelers work in mysterious ways.

This season, allegedly “all in” with a roster full of senior citizens, they did nothing at this past Tuesday’s trade deadline. AFC competitors like Baltimore, Indianapolis, Jacksonville and the Los Angeles Chargers all got better. The Steelers didn’t.

If you want to lump in the Steelers’ acquisition of safety Kyle Dugger from New England a week prior, fine. It doesn’t exactly compare to Indianapolis trading for two-time first-team All-Pro cornerback Sauce Gardner.

If the Steelers are indeed “all in” and think they can make a playoff run, why didn’t they do something? The Steelers are not serious people.

Compounding the mystery is what the Steelers did in 2019, albeit well before the trade deadline.

Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger popped his elbow in Week 2. The Steelers started 0-2. The season was flushed and the Steelers knew it. You don’t win playoff games with Mason Rudolph or Duck Hodges at QB.

The smart move would have been to tank, get a high draft pick and perhaps get your quarterback of the future. (Which, six years later, they still don’t have.) The Los Angeles Chargers went 5-11 that year and took Justin Herbert with the sixth choice.

Instead, the Steelers traded a first-round pick for safety Minkah Fitzpatrick, stumbled to 8-8, and preserved coach Mike Tomlin’s streak of no losing seasons.

It makes you wonder about priorities.

Fitzpatrick was 23 when that deal was made. The argument was, you still have him moving forward. He did have three first-team All-Pro seasons in Pittsburgh.

OK, but he’s only a safety. (Who never won a playoff game with the Steelers.)

And the same could be said of trading two first-round picks for Gardner, like the Colts did. Gardner is 25 and in his prime.

If the Steelers are “all in,” they should have made that deal for Gardner. At the very least, they should have bettered Jacksonville’s offer for receiver Jakobi Meyers.

The Jaguars got Meyers from Las Vegas for fourth- and sixth-round draft picks. The Steelers should have dangled a third and a sixth, a fourth and a fifth, whatever.

The Steelers lack a legit No. 2 wideout and are a DK Metcalf injury away from having their season scuttled.

Meyers is a free agent at season’s end. So what? Re-sign him. If not, you sacrificed minimal draft capital to try to win this year when you’re supposed to be “all in.”

But the Steelers aren’t “all in.” They never are.

They just want to have a winning season and make every regular-season game meaningful. Keep interest high.

The Steelers have to finish ahead of Baltimore to win the AFC North. The Ravens got better at the deadline.

The Steelers might have to beat the Chargers, Indianapolis and/or Jacksonville in the playoffs. Those teams all got better at the deadline.

One narrative holds that the Steelers didn’t want to trade draft picks for 2026 because Pittsburgh is hosting that draft. The Steelers want to be at the podium getting that crowd pop.

If that’s true, that’s a sad way to run a football team. That’s prioritizing showbiz ahead of winning.

Maybe I’m wrong. Maybe Dugger is the new Troy Polamalu.

But what I see is the same sad road to Palookaville.

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