Ever since he took over as Pittsburgh Steelers head coach, Mike McCarthy has had an eye on the 2027 season. All the attention during offseason workouts and training camp has centered on the young quarterbacks and it has felt like 2026 was not the focus.
Now, four games into the season, the Steelers are 2-2 and things are not going well. The Joey Porter Jr. debacle is still carrying over to the team and there are real signs that this team isn't planning to be competitive this season. The next four games heading into the bye week will be telling as to what direction this team is going. If the team comes out of this four-game stretch under .500, here are four guys who could be on the trading block.
Linebacker - Patrick Queen
Queen went from having one of his best games of the
year in Week Three to basically giving up in Week Four. Given his bloated salary, we could see Pittsburgh moving him, handing things over to Payton Wilson and Cole Holcomb in the middle and adding some draft capital.
Wide receiver - Michael Pittman Jr.
The trade for Pittman Jr. is proving to be a bad move as he can't seem to stay healthy enough to get on the field. We could have plugged DK Metcalf in here instead if Pittman Jr. just isn't healthy enough to earn any trade offers.
Defensive back - Jalen Ramsey
Ramsey is still a very good football player and playing well but given the cost, we could see the team moving on to allow the young guys more reps in what might end up a rebuilding year.
EDGE defender - Alex Highsmith
If there's an edge to be traded, it's probably Alex Highsmith. T.J. Watt is untradable and Nick Herbig is just getting started and trading away Highsmith would give Herbig a spot in the starting lineup on the outside where he belongs.
This article originally appeared on Steelers Wire: 4 Steelers we could see traded before the deadline
