Historically, the Steelers rarely make trades in-season, but Pro Football Focus can see some hypothetical moves being made by Pittsburgh.
Cornerback Joe Haden is on the last year of his deal with Pittsburgh and after reportedly not getting an extension after asking for one could be on the move in the offseason.
There was an erroneous report last week that the Dallas Cowboys were interested in making a move for Haden.
PFF says the Green Bay Packers are in the market for a cornerback, even before star Jaire Alexander went down on IR.
PFF’s Brad Spielberger can see the Steelers giving up Haden and a seventh-round pick for a fifth-round pick in 2022.
Haden would cost the Packers over $3.8 million for the rest of the season.
The Steelers acquired cornerback Ahkello Witherspoon in the offseason and has been barely seen on the field and CB James Pierre has performed well so far this season and is graded 64.4 overall by PFF.
With the Steelers traditionally having a hard time finding good cornerbacks, it’s hard to see the Steelers trading Haden.
Another hypothetical move is tight end Eric Ebron to San Francisco for a draft pick in 2023.
Ebron has been pretty much non-existent this season, with only seven catches for 47 years.
He did score a touchdown on Sunday against the Seahawks, but that was a rush attempt from the one-yard line.
Ebron has played less than 50 percent of the snaps in every game except Week Three when he played 57 percent against Cincinnati, He has three targets and no catches.
Spielberger says, “The loss of wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster will in theory mean more targets over the middle headed Ebron’s way, but Ben Roethlisberger has largely avoided throwing over the middle of the field all season. Ebron would perhaps get to start for a stretch while Kittle is on the mend and then eventually be the second tight end in two tight end sets as a pass-catcher with nowhere near the blocking ability of Kittle.‘’
Rookie tight end Pat Freiermuth has caught 18 balls for 159 yards and one touchdown so far this season for the Steelers.
If the Steelers do deal Ebron, next up at tight end is Zach Gentry, who has three catches for 21 yards through six games.