5 bold predictions for Pittsburgh Steelers in 2021

4. The Steelers will trade a big-name veteran in-season

The Steelers front office started to remake the roster this offseason but there’s still a lot more work to be done. If Pittsburgh stumbles out of the gate it’s going to make a lot of financial sense to offload a high-priced veteran before the trade deadline.

It’s difficult to determine exactly who that might be at this point of the offseason, but there are several big-name possibilities. Joe Haden is a quality cornerback who might be too old to contribute to the team’s next Super Bowl contender. He could fetch a first or second rounder on the open market if another team is willing to take on his salary.

An interior lineman like David DeCastro could also draw a lot of interest from teams looking to solidify their offensive lines in-season. Dumping him for a mid-round pick might be an unpopular move with Pittsburgh fans, but it could help accelerate the rebuild.

The point here is that Pittsburgh’s front office needs to get ahead of their need to rebuild before it’s too late. That makes the idea of offloading a high-priced veteran for draft equity a very intriguing possibility for the Steelers.