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Roundtable Sports
Analyst Explains Why Steelers Should Stay Quiet at NFL Trade Deadline
- Story byRoundtable Sports
- Analyst Explains Why Steelers Should Stay Quiet at NFL Trade Deadline
(IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect)
ESPN's Bill Barnwell called the Pittsburgh Steelers "already fully formed, for better or worse" in a column Thursday that put them among four teams with winning records he would keep out of the trade market before Tuesday's 4 p.m. ET deadline.
Pittsburgh is 6-2, with sole possession of first place in the AFC North and a bye this week. The other three teams in Barnwell's group are the Cleveland Browns , who have split two games with the Steelers, the Denver Broncos, and the Baltimore Ravens, who are without Lamar Jackson indefinitely because of a thumb injury.
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Barnwell paired most of the other 14 teams with luxury and bargain trade targets. Pittsburgh's section has neither.
At 42, Aaron Rodgers still releases the ball quickly, but, Barnwell wrote, he's throwing downfield more often than in 2025. Through eight games, he's completed 60.8% of passes for 1,871 yards, 13 touchdowns , and six interceptions.
DK Metcalf was one of two problem spots on offense in Barnwell's column. Metcalf has 33 catches on 64 targets for 378 yards and one touchdown this season. Against Cleveland on Nov. 1, he caught one of six targets for 4 yards, and a third-quarter throw meant for him ended up as a Denzel Ward interception.
The other was Troy Fautanu. He was better at right tackle in 2025 than he has been on the left side this year, Barnwell wrote, and the rest of the offense is playing at a high level.
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The Steelers piled up 200 rushing yards in that 27-6 win over Cleveland . It was Jaylen Warren's 28th birthday. He ran 17 times for 143 yards and a touchdown, matching his career high.
Warren gave the credit to the group he came through camp with.
"Just playing with the boys I play with," Warren said. "I wouldn't want to be part of any other team. We all built that camaraderie during camp. We've all been with each other. We see eye-to-eye every week. Isn't like I'm just out there playing football. I'm playing football with my brothers."
Rico Dowdle had 56 yards on the ground and scored as well. Rodgers was 13-of-25 for 172 yards. Tight end Darnell Washington had 94 yards on three catches, 58 of them on a catch-and-run early in the third quarter that ended at the Cleveland 1, and Warren punched it in on the following play.
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Rodgers had not expected a trap call on third-and-20 to pick up a first down.
"He's put himself in all the conversations," Rodgers said. "He's playing incredible. To be able to call a trap on third and 20, get a first down, is pretty wild. Didn't expect that. I couldn't remember the last time that happened when I was out there. Love having him on our team. Fantastic teammate. He's making a lot of plays."
In August, Joey Porter Jr. was on the physically unable to perform list with a back injury, and talks on a new contract were going nowhere. Steelers coach Mike McCarthy said on Aug. 24 that the team and Porter had reached an impasse.
"Every one of us has a contract," McCarthy said. "The organization, they have beliefs and so forth. So that's where we are."
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"They need to pay Joey Porter," Jalen Ramsey said around the same time.
Pittsburgh never paid him. On the night of Sept. 30, a day before the Thursday game at Cleveland, general manager Omar Khan sent him to the Dallas Cowboys for a 2028 second-round pick and a 2027 sixth. Porter sat out the first three games by choice, he said a day later in Frisco.
"Definitely felt disrespected. Definitely felt undervalued. But that's the old news now," Porter said. "I'm on to new beginnings, new chapters."
Against Cleveland, Pittsburgh's front seven, credited by Barnwell with covering for the secondary, sacked Deshaun Watson eight times, including two by T.J. Watt. The Browns managed just 34 yards on 15 carries. Watson threw for 324 yards (27-of-39) but no touchdowns. Pittsburgh allows 18.0 points per game, third-fewest in the NFL.
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If Pittsburgh adds a player, Barnwell suggests a depth defensive back. The Steelers' biggest upgrade needs are at spots held by starters Rodgers, Metcalf, Ramsey, and other veterans, he wrote.
Bleacher Report's Kristopher Knox listed Philadelphia Eagles cornerback Riq Woolen as an option for Pittsburgh this week, with a projected price of a conditional 2027 fifth-round pick. Woolen has 30 tackles, one forced fumble, and six pass deflections through eight games.
Only one of the six wins came against a likely contender, by Barnwell's count. That was the Week 3 home win over the Cincinnati Bengals. The two losses came in Week 2 at the New England Patriots and in Week 4 at Cleveland, 27-24 on a Thursday night.
McCarthy is in his first season with the team. Pittsburgh is scoring 22.5 points per game, 18th in the league.
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If the players who can get the Steelers past the wild-card round exist, Barnwell wrote, they are already on the roster.
The Steelers return Sunday, Nov. 15, at the Bengals at Paycor Stadium. Kickoff is 8:20 p.m. ET on NBC.
