The Pittsburgh Steelers stood their ground at the NFL trade deadline and will now look to win the AFC North with substantially the team they started the year with.
Most notably, general manager Omar Khan opted not to part with any draft capital in exchange for a wide receiver that the team appears that it could badly use on paper.
Injuries have kept top offseason acquisition Michael Pittman Jr. and former third-round pick Roman Wilson out of the lineup for several weeks. The team has expressed hope that both could return in the second half of the season, but neither has yet done much on-field work to signal that those moves are imminent.
On the field, veteran
DK Metcalf has struggled to produce like a clear No. 1 at the position. The former Pro Bowler is on pace for a career low in receiving yards over a mostly healthy season.
Rookie Germie Bernard has 32 catches for 284 yards. It’s a nice start, but he has yet to establish himself as a consistent downfield threat for quarterback Aaron Rodgers and coach Mike McCarthy, who’s also the offense’s lead play caller.
Khan also decided to hold onto some guys with murky futures in Pittsburgh.
Inside linebacker Patrick Queen is playing out the final season of his contract. Trade rumors swirled around him in the offseason, and early struggles in 2026 prompted speculation that he could be a candidate for a change of scenery with a possible departure from Pittsburgh looming in a couple of months either way.
He has stepped up his performance over the past couple of weeks, however. He’s been a big part of the reason the Steelers have limited the New Orleans Saints and Cleveland Browns to 52 combined rushing yards as one of the team’s leading tacklers. He also has 2.5 sacks in that span as a boost to the pass rush.
Giving him up now risked hurting a defense that is hitting its stride for the limited potential upside of a later-round NFL draft pick.
Highly paid outside linebackers T.J. Watt, Alex Highsmith and Nick Herbig all stayed put as well.
The trio could theoretically command close to a third of Pittsburgh’s salary cap space in 2027 after Herbig’s extension this past offseason gave him greater parity with what the other two earn.
Most observers believe it’s unlikely the Steelers will invest that amount of money into the position over the long term, which points toward one of them – likely the older Watt or Highsmith – being dealt sooner than later.
For now, at least, it looks like they’ll continue to pressure opposing quarterbacks together and give coordinator Patrick Graham nearly unparalleled depth.
The Steelers return to action after their bye week with a Sunday Night Football matchup Nov. 16 against Cincinnati, which currently shares the division lead with Pittsburgh at 6-2.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Steelers' Omar Khan stands pat at trade deadline, makes no major moves
