As the owners of 12 draft picks, the Pittsburgh Steelers can add premium players to the roster, but those newcomers might not all arrive in this April’s draft.
General manager Omar Khan could trade some picks, possibly to add a veteran player or additional selections in a deep 2027 draft, said NFL Network analyst Daniel Jeremiah, a former college scout with the Cleveland Browns, Baltimore Ravens and Philadelphia Eagles.
“I think there’s some things (the Steelers) need to accomplish in the draft, but I also think there’s two other options,” Jeremiah said Thursday on a conference call in advance of the NFL Scouting Combine.
Along with the 21st overall selection, the Steelers have a pick in the second round, three in the third, two in the fourth, one in the fifth, two in the sixth and two in the seventh.
The NFL Draft is April 23-25 in Pittsburgh.
Ideally, that abundance of picks would have let the Steelers find their next franchise quarterback, putting them in position to trade up in the first round. But Jeremiah rated only one quarterback as first-round worthy in this year’s class, and Indiana’s Fernando Mendoza is projected to go first overall.
So, outside of drafting a dozen players, the Steelers need another plan.
“I think you have ammunition to go get a veteran player if you want to trade for a veteran,” Jeremiah said. “That third-round pick will score you a really, really nice piece, historically, in the trade market. So, you could plug a hole that way.”
The Steelers traded a second-round pick in a deal for receiver DK Metcalf before last year’s draft. Teams can make trades starting March 11 when the new league year begins.
But if trading for a veteran doesn’t suit the Steelers’ wishes, Jeremiah suggested the franchise look closer at a 2027 draft with a stronger quarterback class. Texas’ Arch Manning, Oregon’s Dante Moore and Ohio State’s Julian Sayin are among the coveted QBs possibly in play. So the Steelers might try to add picks for next year.
Jeremiah said he liked that idea.
“At least on the surface this far out, (2027) looks like it could be one of the best drafts we’ve seen in a very long time with premium, high-end talent,” he said. “And if you don’t feel like your quarterback of the future is in this draft, getting another lottery ticket next year would make some sense just to give yourself more ammunition.”
As for this year’s draft, Jeremiah has projected the Steelers using their first pick on Washington’s Denzel Boston, a 6-foot-4, 210-pound receiver. He described the tandem of Boston and Metcalf as “two power forwards on the outside.”
If the Steelers don’t draft a receiver in the first round, Jeremiah suggested a cornerback or safety.
“They’ve done a really good job the last few years of investing in offensive linemen, and I think they’ve got some really good young pieces there,” he said. “You look on the defensive line, and I like what they have there. … To me, this feels weird to say for the Steelers, but it feels like kind of a ‘perimeter offseason,’ you know, getting better on the perimeter.”
The Steelers selected nine offensive or defensive linemen in the past three drafts, including three first rounders: offensive tackles Broderick Jones (2023) and Troy Fautanu (2024) and defensive tackle Derrick Harmon (2025).
The draft option Jeremiah considered least likely was the Steelers packaging picks in a trade to move higher in this year’s first round. He said a team traditionally moves up only to draft a quarterback, pass rusher or offensive tackle.
“They’ve invested in the offensive and defensive lines, and there’s not a quarterback that’s going to be worth chasing,” he said. “So, I don’t really see them moving up for any of these other guys.”
