Trading Draft Picks
Current Steelers' Staff Not Afraid To Deal
By Jerry DiPaola

For the second year in a row and the third time in the past six years, the Steelers are stuck deep in the first round of the draft, seemingly, with nowhere to go. By virtue of their 13-3 record in 2002, the Steelers will pick 27th in the April 26 process after the best cornerbacks and, perhaps, all of the top quarterbacks are gone.

But before you figure that the Steelers will definitely just sit there and accept whoever falls into their lap, you may be forgetting the identity of the Steelers' director of football operations. Kevin Colbert, who conducts the draft with coach Bill Cowher, is not shy about trading up. It's difficult, to be sure, when you have so little to offer (who wants to pick 27th, after all?), but not impossible.

Colbert was part of the Detroit Lions' front office for 10 years and helped engineer trades that brought players—either directly or through draft picks—such as defensive ends Kelvin Pritchett and Jared DeVries, offensive tackle Aaron Gibson, kicker Jason Hanson, cornerback Ryan McNeil, tight end David Sloan, linebackers Reggie Brown and Pat Swilling. Colbert was also responsible for two players now with the Steelers, center Jeff Hartings and quarterback Charlie Batch.

With the exception of the deals for Brown and Swilling, the Lions did not have to give up their first-round draft choices. In fact, they traded cement-footed quarterback Scott Mitchell to get two picks in 1999.

It's not always trades involving first-round picks that net results. In his second year with the Steelers in 2001, Colbert worked a deal in the second round that allowed the Steelers to move up 11 spots and grab linebacker Kendrell Bell, who went to the Pro Bowl in his rookie season.

Also, sitting still, rejecting trade offers and drafting what's available isn't such a bad idea. Four Steelers starters—guards Kendall Simmons (30th) and Alan Faneca (26th), cornerback Chad Scott (24th) and tight end Mark Bruener (27th) — were mined from the lower reaches of the first round.