NFL Draft 2021: Kwity Paye and the 3 best scenarios for Pittsburgh Steelers in first round
The Steelers need to land an instant starter at No. 24 in Round 1 of this year’s draft. Here are the three best reasonable outcomes for Pittsburgh.
Poor salary cap management made it difficult for the Steelers to add significant talent in free agency this offseason. That makes the draft the organization’s best vehicle to upgrade their roster before the 2021 campaign.
Landing the right player in Round 1 won’t totally make up for Pittsburgh’s offseason failings to date, but it can go a long way towards giving Mike Tomlin’s team a fighting chance next season. The
aren’t going to suddenly transform into Super Bowl contenders no matter what happens in this year’s draft, but they can drastically increase their odds of making it to the postseason if things break right.
Predicting what can happen late in Round 1 is never easy, but here are three realistic outcomes that Steelers fans should be hoping for on Thursday night.
3. Steelers trade up for a sliding quarterback
Ben Roethlisberger is on his last legs as the team’s starting quarterback. There’s a cogent argument to be made that the Steelers should have moved on from him this offseason. At the very least, it’s time for Pittsburgh to start planning for his successor.
That makes the Steelers a dark horse candidate to move up the board if a talented signal-caller like Trey Lance or Justin Fields starts to fall. They won’t give up the draft capital required to move into the top-10, but moving up 10 slots or so to land their quarterback of the future would be a great outcome for Pittsburgh on Day One.