The Pittsburgh Steelers are preparing for the 2024 regular season, but before the real games begin, the team has to head to training camp back at Saint Vincent College in order to fine tune their skills. As we here at SCN prepare you for the start of camp, we give you a series called “30 Scenarios in 30 Days” which gives you a Steelers scenario every day leading up to the start of camp.

It is simple how it works. We provide you the scenario, reasons why it will or won’t happen, and then our prediction for what we think will take place.

Let’s get to the scenario…

Scenario: The Steelers will make multiple trades before the start of the 2024 regular season

Why it will happen: Just looking at the last three seasons, with two of those being under general manager Omar Khan, the Steelers have made two trades each year from the start of training camp up until their first game. Last season, the Steelers traded away players as they moved Kevin Dotson to the LA Rams along with a 2024 fifth-round pick and a 2025 sixth-round pick in exchange for a 2024 fourth-round pick and a 2025 fifth-round pick. Not long after this deal, the Steelers also traded Kendrick Green to the Houston Texans for a 2025 sixth-round draft pick.

Looking at the two previous years, the Steelers used trades to acquire players. In 2022, the Steelers acquired offensive lineman Jesse Davis for 2025 seventh-round pick as well as gaining Malik Reid and a seventh-round pick in exchange for a sixth-round pick in the 2023 draft. These moves were made right around the cut down date to 53 players. In 2021, the Steelers traded a 2022 sixth-round pick for linebacker Joe Schobert on the day of their second preseason game and they also added cornerback Ahkello Witherspoon in exchange for a 2022 fifth-round pick just ahead of the season.

Even though they may not be the blockbuster trades Steelers’ fans desire, the front office has shown they will both trade away assets for draft capital or bring in players that they deem to be necessary. So recent history tells us that there will be moves made by the Steelers, not just signing available players but by making trades.

Why it won’t happen: Just because the Steelers have made multiple trades during training camp and before the season the last three years does not mean that they have to do so this year. Plus, in 2020 the Steelers made no trades ahead of the season. In 2019 and 2018 they made one trade each season. The 2019 season was where they sent Jerald Hawkins to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and exchange for a 2020 sixth-round draft pick. In 2018, the Steelers added wide receiver Ryan Switzer and a sixth-round draft pick in exchange for a fifth-round pick. So the Steelers can make moves, but they aren’t necessarily going to be multiple moves.

It’s difficult to predict trades. Just because the Steelers have either an excess or a need, it does not mean that they will have the appropriate trade partner willing to do business that makes sense. Many Steelers fans would talk about the need of acquiring another wide receiver, or even a cornerback after the suspension of Camp Sutton, but there has to be the right player available for the right price. Outside of these two positions, one of which could be answered via free agency as there are other cornerbacks available, there may not be a need to make multiple trades this year.

Prediction: The key to answering this scenario is that it is multiple trades. I believe the Steelers will pull off at least one trade, even if it’s a minor one, sometime between now and the start of the regular season. In fact, I’m going to say they pull off at least two. Where I would start to falter is if the requirement would be more than two trades. But this is not out of the question as the Steelers made five trades less than two weeks ahead of the 2017 season.

The bigger reason I think the Steelers will make the moves is because things will be more clear in a month and a half when the decision has to be made. Chances are it will be obvious to the front office if they need to add another wide receiver ahead of the regular season or if a player on the current roster step up to grab the job. The same can be set about cornerback. But there is still the option that the Steelers may have excess at some positions that would be in danger of not making the roster or force the Steelers to release a player they would really like to keep. Both the offensive and defensive lines have some quality depth that could be attractive to other teams. So if I were to really call my shot when it comes to trade in the next two months, I think the Steelers will have one trade of acquiring a player and another trade of sending one away.

Miss a scenario? Check out yesterday’s scenario below, and be sure to stay tuned to SCN for the latest news and notes surrounding the Steelers as they prepare for training camp.

30 Scenarios In 30 Days: Alex Highsmith Will Return To Double Digit Sack Totals