OK,
maybe there's a reason my phone hasn't rung yet with a job offer from the Steelers.
In an earlier post,
I suggested the Steelers, who have nine picks in this year's draft, package some of them in a trade for a top-10 pick.
That way they could get a B.J. Raji to provide some youth for their aging defensive line.
My reasoning was that
teams that are rebuilding needs lots of draft picks, and the Steelers are Super Bowl champions, so they couldn't possibly
be rebuilding.
Or could they?
John Harris of the Pittsburgh-Tribune Review pointed out that the Steelers have 12 guys entering the final year of their contracts: James Harrison, Heath Miller, Hines
Ward, Casey Hampton, Larry Foote, Willie Parker, Brett Keisel, Justin Hartwig, Ryan Clark, Jeff Reed, Willie Colon and Max
Starks.
The Steelers are probably going to lose some of those guys. With that in mind, perhaps the Steelers need
every one of those nine draft picks.
Also, it's not the Steelers' way to trade into the top 10 and throw
a lot of money at a rookie. But they do have a history trading to improve their position in the first round. They went from
No. 27 to No. 16 in 2003 to get Troy Polamalu, and they went from 32 to 25 in 2006 to get Santonio Holmes. I think those moves
worked out well.
Speaking of Raji, SI.com pulled the report that he tested positive for marijuana at the scouting
combine. So don't expect him to slide too far down the board.
