The Steelers Could Trade Away Two High Round Former Draft Picks: "If A Team Sees The Talent"

The Pittsburgh Steelers are in an interesting position. They aren't in a rebuild nor are they considered a serious Super Bowl contender at the moment, but they are in win now mode. The Steelers aren't just going to trade players away that they think are going to positively move the needle and push them closer to being a Super Bowl contender. However, with the current state of the team, there isn't a whole lot of room for the Steelers to give reps to unproven players in the second half of their rookie contract. 

The 2022 draft class is now heading into year three of their NFL careers and outside of wide receiver George Pickens, none of these players are presumed to be major contributors for the Steelers in 2024. Kenny Pickett started 24 games at quarterback for the Steelers, but was traded to the Philadelphia Eagles. DeMarvin Leal, Calvin Austin III, Connor Heyward and Mark Robinson have played snaps with Pittsburgh, but have been by no means irreplaceable thus far. 

There has been speculation that tackle Dan Moore Jr. will be traded ahead of the 2024 regular season after the Steelers drafted offensive tackles in back to back years. In Brian Batko's chat, the insider discussed the possibility of the Steelers trading players away.

"Either him [Dan Moore Jr.] or one of the recent mid-round guys who hasn't amounted to much yet on the field. If a team sees the talent in Calvin Austin III or DeMarvin Leal or someone like that."

Austin and Leal were both very intriguing draft picks in 2022. Austin was a very undersized wide receiver prospect who ran a 4.32 40-yard dash at the NFL Scouting Combine. Austin received high praise from now two-time All-Pro cornerback Ahmad "Sauce" Gardner who called Austin his toughest collegiate matchup. Leal was once considered a top five draft prospect, but as the 2022 draft got closer, Leal fell down draft boards. 

The belief was that Leal couldn't mimic his college success in the NFL due to his weakness defending the run and his below average bend and flexibility for a pass rusher. Former Steelers' General Manager Kevin Colbert decided to take a flier on the two boom or bust prospects in his final draft with the Steelers. It could be time to cut ties with Austin and/or Leal and end those experiments. Steelers current General Manager Omar Khan has shown that he is not afraid to move on from a player when he believes it's time.

Khan just finished his second NFL Draft as general manager of the Steelers and has now traded away two of Colbert's recent top draft choices in Pickett and Chase Claypool. Both of them were both still on a rookie contract and the jury is still out on if trading Pickett was the right move, but the Claypool deal certainly was.

Khan also traded away wide receiver Diontae Johnson this offseason. Although fans had mixed feelings about Johnson, he was a major contributor for the Steelers in his five seasons with the team. Khan felt it was time to move on from Johnson and he did.

Leal and Austin have contributed far less than Pickett, Claypool and Johnson so it's hard to believe that Khan would have much hesitation if a team came calling for their services. Leal and Austin still haven't reached their ceiling and a rebuilding team with time to kill may want to see if they can help them reach their ceilings.

Steelers Could Acknowledge Recent Draft Misses And Trade Away Two More Of Their 2022 Draft Picks

At this point, all members of the 2022 Steelers' draft class with the exception of Pickens are replaceable. Chris Oladokun was cut before the 2022 regular season and Pickett is gone. Leal and Austin could be next on the chopping block for Khan.

Will the Steelers trade Austin or Leal ahead of the 2024 regular season? Let us know in the comments below!

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