A Steelers-Bills Draft Day Trade Could Be on the Table

Andrew Fillipponi of 93.7 The Fan added more fuel with posting a rumored Steelers-Bills trade scenario.

“Rumored Steelers-Bills draft pick trade to keep an eye on: Steelers trade 1st (20th pick) and 4th (98th pick) to Bills for 1st (28th pick) and 2nd (60th pick). Would you make that deal?” Fillipponi wrote on X.

The Bills have a huge hole to fill at wide receiver with Stefon Diggs being traded to Houston earlier this month. This is a deep wide receiver class, so if Buffalo really likes a particular receiver, they could pull the trigger and trade up to get quarterback Josh Allen a top-flight weapon.

Depending on who’s on the board, it seems like this year’s draft could be a perfect opportunity for the Steelers to trade down for the first time in the draft since selecting Casey Hampton in 2001. The Steelers just have so many needs — wide receiver, center, offensive tackle and slot cornerback. Those four feel like the obvious top four needs and could be classified as positions they have to draft in some respects.

So far, the Steelers have brought wide receivers Ricky Pearsall of Florida, Xavier Legette of South Carolina, Malachi Corley of Western Kentucky, Tahj Washington of USC and Luke McCaffrey of Rice in for pre-draft visits.

ESPN draft analyst Matt Miller has West Virginia center Zach Frazier ranked as the 29th overall player, and thinks there could be a first-round buzz. Oregon center Jackson Powers-Johnson also might go late first round, so the Steelers could have an opportunity to still get an elite center if they want to go the trade back route.

If the Steelers want a center in the first round, a trade back makes a ton of sense. Frazier, Powers-Johnson and Graham Barton of Duke all might still be available in the late 20s.

“Frazier was a four-time West Virginia state champion wrestler in high school, and that level of agility, toughness and strength is exactly what you want in a center prospect. Coming from a wide-zone scheme, he’s ideal for the modern NFL — and if teams are comfortable with his recovery from a leg injury that ended his 2023 season early, expect late-Round 1 talk,” Miller wrote.

Cody Benjamin of CBS Sports recently did an exercise where he decided the best plan for all 32 teams in the 2024 NFL Draft: Trade up, trade down or stay put in first round. In regards to the Steelers, Benjamin thinks Pittsburgh should stay put at 20th overall.

“A trade up could be necessary to prevent a top tackle or corner from escaping their grasp, but they could also find good value at one of those spots, or another area of need like guard or receiver, by waiting it out,” Benjamin wrote.