The NFL trade deadline is coming up Oct. 29.
It's a deadline many fans don't know anything about, largely because it's never really mattered much in the past. NFL teams have rarely been as active as their brethren in other sports.
But the past couple of years have seen NFL teams become more active on the trade market for veteran players during the season. This year alone, the Steelers have made two trades in the first six weeks of the season for veteran help, acquiring safety Minkah Fitzpatrick from the Dolphins and tight end Nick Vannett from the Seahawks.
Those were the team's biggest needs and they've been filled.
That does not, however, mean they should be done. Even at 2-4 and without quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, the Steelers find themselves in the thick of things in the AFC playoff race. And if they want to improve their lot, there are some other moves they could make to become a better team.
The interesting thing about the NFL trade deadline -- unlike other professional sports leagues -- is that trading players doesn't mean you're a seller, giving up on your season, while trading for players or being a buyer doesn't mean you think you're still in things. Because rosters are so big and draft picks can be valuable, teams seem a little more willing now to deal from an excess to acquire future draft picks.
That said, here are some players the Steelers could target:
Emmanuel Sanders, WR, Broncos: Sanders was drafted in the third round of the 2010 draft by the Steelers -- three rounds before Antonio Brown -- and became a regular before Brown that season. In four seasons with the Steelers, he caught 161 passes before moving on in free agency to the Broncos.
Sanders has 404 receptions in his six seasons with the Broncos, but at 32 and in the final season of a 3-year, $33-million contract, he's not in the team's long term plans. At 2-5, the Broncos are ready to rebuild.
There figures to be a strong market for Sanders, even though he's coming off a torn Achilles' tendon suffered at the end of last season. He's got 30 catches for 367 yards and two touchdowns and looks to be completely recovered from that injury.
The Patriots, Vikings, Packers, Titans and Panthers, among others, could use a veteran receiver. But so could the Steelers.
Sanders would cost $5.4 million for the rest of this season, about $640,000 per game and would be a rental. Whatever pick is traded for him, however, could be recouped as a compensatory selection in 2021 -- assuming compensatory picks remain part of the new CBA.
The Steelers are short on picks in 2020, having traded their first-round pick for Fitzpatrick and their third-round selection on draft day as part of the package to acquire Devin Bush. But they still have their pick in the second round, two fourths, a sixth and a seventh.
They also remain in line to get a third-round compensatory pick in exchange for losing Le'Veon Bell in free agency to the Jets -- if they release Donte Moncrief before Week 10. Acquiring Sanders would make it easier to do that, as well.
So, in essence, trading one of their two fourth-round picks to acquire Sanders for the remainder of the season would allow the team to easily release Moncrief and secure a third-round selection while getting a player who could take some pressure off JuJu Smith-Schuster.
Update: Sanders was traded to the 49ers along with a 2020 fifth-round pick in exchange for a 2020 third- and fourth-round selection Tuesday afternoon.
Leonard Williams, DE, Jets: Williams isn't in the Jets' long-term plans, who fell to 1-5 with their Monday night loss to the Patriots. And while the sixth-overall pick in the 2015 draft has never lived up to that status, he's still a good player.
He's making $14.2 million in base salary this season, meaning he would cost $7.5 million for the remainder of this season, so the Steelers would have to free up some cap space to make this happen.
With Stephon Tuitt out for the remainder of the season, Williams would step into the starting lineup opposite Cam Heyward and the defense wouldn't miss a beat.
Would a fourth-round pick and, say, Artie Burns, get this deal done? Perhaps. The Jets could use some help in the defensive backfield.
Williams is 25 and will get a big contract on the open market in 2020, so the rental would return a likely third-round compensatory pick in 2021.
Albert Wilson/DeVante Parker, WR, Dolphins: The Dolphins not only don't care if they win in 2019, they absolutely don't want to.
Wilson and Parker are a pair of veteran receivers who just don't fit into the long-term plans of a complete rebuild.
Wilson, at 5-foot-9, is more of a slot receiver, but he's got 157 career receptions with an average of 12.5 yards per catch. He also can do some returning.
Parker would be the better fit. At 6-foot-3, he would provide another outside threat opposite Smith-Schuster. Like Sanders, he also would allow the Steelers to part with Moncrief.
Unlike Sanders, however, Parker is signed through next season. He signed a 2-year, $10-million contract to return to the Dolphins in the offseason and will make just $4.4 million in 2020.
Mohamed Sanu, WR, Falcons: Sanu, at 30, isn't in the long-term plans of the Falcons. And his contract might scare the Steelers away. He's due $6.5 million in 2020 in the final year of his contract. But he could be released at the end of the season for nothing.
He's got 33 catches for 313 yards and a touchdown this season. He's got some similar traits as Smith-Schuster and isn't a downfield threat like he once was, but he is a pro.
The price tag would be a seventh-round pick. But adding him would, again, allow the Steelers to part ways with Moncrief and keep that compensatory pick for Bell in the third round. (Editor's Note: Sanu was acquired by the Patriots Tuesday morning for a second round pick)
Update: The Patriots traded a second-round pick for Sanu on Tuesday morning.
Robert Foster, WR, Bills: This is more of an ideal fit kind of thing. Foster went undrafted last season but came on strong at the end of the 2018 season, posting four games of 94 or more yards in the Bills' final seven games.
However, he's largely been inactive this season after the Bills acquired veterans John Brown and Cole Beasley in the offseason.
A product of Central Valley High School in Beaver County, Foster went undrafted after a career at Alabama where he fell behind some other high-level prospects. Would the Bills be interested in acquiring, say, a sixth-round pick for a player they're not using and didn't invest a pick in themselves?
But with the Bills at 5-1 and firmly in the middle of the AFC playoff race, they might not be inclined to trade anyone, especially to a future opponent.
Foster averaged 20 yards per catch last season. The Steelers have continually tried to run Johnny Holton deep behind defenses this season, to no avail. Foster is a much more proven commodity who could help the Steelers take the top off defenses.
Artie Burns, CB, Steelers: Wait, isn't Burns already with the Steelers? Yes. But as we've seen three corners -- Jalen Ramsey, Marcus Peters and Gareon Conley -- traded freely in the past week, it's obviously a position at which teams are looking for help. And they haven't all filled their holes.
The Eagles have been awful in the secondary this season and just released Orlando Scandrick. The Chiefs could use help in the secondary. So could the Lions, the Seahawks and others.
The Steelers didn't pick up the fifth-year option on Burns' rookie deal, meaning the 2016 first-round draft pick will be an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season.
And with starters Joe Haden and Steven Nelson, along with backups Cam Sutton and 2019 third-round pick Justin Layne in place, Burns could be expendable as an outside corner.
What would it take to pry him loose? A fifth-round pick would get it done. But the Steelers could start by asking for a fourth.
The Steelers could use the additional draft capital Burns would bring.
