Vance McDonald‘s injury has prompted the Steelers to act quickly. Pittsburgh has agreed to acquire tight end Nick Vannett from Seattle, Adam Schefter of ESPN.com tweets. The Steelers will send a 2020 fifth-round pick to the Seahawks for Vannett, Tom Pelissero of NFL.com tweets. That pick came from Jacksonville in this month’s Joshua Dobbs trade, as Bob Condotta of the Seattle Times tweets, so the Steelers effectively traded Dobbs for Vannett.
This marks the second straight week the Steelers have made a trade, this lower-profile move coming after Pittsburgh sent its 2020 first-round pick for Minkah Fitzpatrick.
A former third-round pick out of Ohio State, Vannett is in a contract year. He caught 29 passes for 269 yards and three touchdowns with Seattle in 2018, which was by far his most productive statistical year. Vannett, 26, has four catches for 38 yards this season. He will join a Steelers roster that houses McDonald, blocking tight end Xavier Grimble and rookie fifth-round pick Zach Gentry.
McDonald is battling a sprained shoulder, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets. He was spotted with the shoulder in a sling Tuesday, though RapSheet adds this is not expected to sideline Pittsburgh’s starter for long. But it’s clear the Steelers are serious about having an experienced tight end to pair with Grimble, and thus adding more help for Mason Rudolph, while McDonald is out.
Interestingly, this leaves the Seahawks with one tight end on their active roster, Will Dissly. While the second-year player has flashed in limited work, he missed 12 games as a rookie due to a severe knee injury. Seattle will certainly address this new roster need in the coming days.
The Steelers have now dealt their 2020 first-, third- and fifth-round picks, while the Seahawks have extra ’20 selections in the second and fifth rounds.
Won’t help them win any games, because they suck and I love every minute of it
Yep, you do love sucking, don’t you?
that’s what I read too
Steelers sure act like they are “going for it” even though they are 0-3 and have Big Ben our for the year.
@brad yes, they’re a dumpster fire, to say the least.
Their holes are becoming more evident every week, yet they have virtually no draft picks, and limited cap space to work with.
Yes, AB comes off the books next season, but an aging roster will gobble any extra cash they might have because of it.
The YDT (Yinzer Defense Team) will find some to be critical about from above, I’m sure. Lol
Only critical about your factual errors, bushie – except for a 2020 1st round pick, which turned into Minkah Fitzpatrick, Steelers will have a full slate of 2020 picks. This assumes they get a 3rd round comp pick for Bell and subs their 2nd pick in the 4th round (from the Fitzpatrick trade) for the 5th round pick they just traded away.
Virtually no draft picks?
When did 6 picks in a 7 round draft become virtually none?
Well they’ve traded away their 1st, 3rd, 4th and fifth picks away. And that matters considering they are 0-3. So their first pick will be at best 33, but they won’t finish dead last so it will b closer to forty. Then their next will be a ways down because the Broncos likely finish better than them. Then the Dolphins fourth rounder. And right now we don’t know which 2020 fifth rounder they have because it seems like they continue to trade those picks away. And then their sixth and seventh. Being that their picks have more value than most years I would argue that yes, their draft pick capital is fairly low in order to add pieces that may or may not help them contend in the future. Because they will not contend this year.
Vannett is a solid player. Sucks to see him go.
Vannett is not a good player, he’s serviceable. They will likely bring Hollister off the practice squad now.
Just to be clear.
Is it servicable, solid and then good?
And does it suck or not? Cant tell if you’re agreeing or disagreeing.
Solid player to me = you never hear anything bad about him and when he makes a catch we cheer.
He knows his role and plays it well.
I wish him well on the Steelers.
This trade doesn’t make a ton of sense to me. You’re giving up an early fifth-round pick for a 26-year old player whose contract is up after the season, and only has 52 catches over the course of his career. Vannett looks like he could be a decent player for the Steelers, don’t get me wrong, but you couldn’t have given up less for a similar player, or just outright signed one and given up nothing at all.
Third round draft pick, probably underused in Seattle. Pittsburgh’s tight ends play a big role. Probably someone has seen some very good film on Vannett. Could be very good for him to go to a tight-end centric system.