Steelers Trade Proposal Flips Watt, Pickens for Star 22-Year-Old QB

The Pittsburgh Steelers have been the epitome of good, but not great, over the last half decade, and the only way to alter that paradigm is to do something different. 

Pittsburgh hasn't had a truly elite quarterback since the end of Ben Roesthlisberger's prime. Both Justin Fields and Russell Wilson had moments this year and both were procured at extreme value, but the team supplanted the former with the latter six games in and then watched the Wilson and the offense implode down the stretch. 

The Steelers ended in the playoffs, but dropped five in a row to end the year -- and all but one of those defeats came by double digits. Pittsburgh selects 21st overall in the upcoming NFL draft, which isn't good enough to procure a top-flight QB in what is a weak class at the position anyway.

To make matters worse, their two current signal callers are likely to be the second- and third-best on the free agent market (should they arrive there come mid-March) behind only Sam Darnold, who may re-up with the Minnesota Vikings. 

That leaves only the option of a trade, either for an established quarterback in the league -- though any elite players aren't likely to be available -- or a deal to move to the top of the draft. Colin Cowherd of Fox Sports recently suggested the latter option via a blockbuster trade pitch to acquire Colorado quarterback Shedeur Sanders. 

"I would trade T.J. Watt, George Pickens, two first-round picks if your scouting department said, 'Shedeur Sanders is the guy,'" Cowherd said on Thursday, Jan. 16. "Because I think Cam Ward is gonna go No. 1. I think Shedeur Sanders you could get at Nos. 5, 6 or 7."

That is a massive haul for Sanders, though Watt is the make-or-break piece of the deal upon boiling it down. 

Pickens is good, but he's not yet in the upper-echelon of No. 1 wide receivers. The two first-round picks would be one in the low 20s this year and another likely somewhere in the middle/backend of the first round in 2026. None of that is so scary to lose if the Steelers sacrifice those assets in order to take a swing on a potential franchise QB

Moving on from Watt, however, could be a nonstarter for the front office and head coach Mike Tomlin, even though everyone is aware a monster asset would need to be included to put a top-five pick on the table.