Steelers Explored Trade With Bucs To Take Makai Lemon At No. 15

While the Steelers did not call the Cowboys about trading up for Makai Lemon during last month’s draft, they did explore a move to the Buccaneers’ No. 15 pick to land the USC wide receiver, per Gerry Dulac of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (via the Rich Eisen Show).

Tampa Bay, though, did not expect Miami edge rusher Rueben Bain Jr. to be available midway through the first round, and they quickly pounced on one of their top-ranked defenders. Pittsburgh looked at the five teams ahead of them at No. 21 – the Jets, Lions, Vikings, Panthers, and Cowboys – and assessed that none would take a wide receiver. They were correct; however, they did not anticipate getting jumped by Philadelphia, who traded up for Dallas’ pick and selected Lemon.

In what may be remembered as an infamous draft night moment, the Steelers were on the phone with Lemon informing him that he would be the 21st pick – while the Cowboys were still on the clock – when the Eagles made their move. General manager Howie Roseman called Lemon, who awkwardly hung up with the Steelers and got the news that he would be headed to Philly instead.

The Steelers pivoted to Arizona State offensive tackle Max Iheanachor, a 6-foot-6, 330-pound physical specimen who will fill a key need in Pittsburgh right away. If he proves to be a high-level starter, then missing out on Lemon may have been a blessing in disguise, as reliable offensive tackles are much harder to find than productive wide receivers. Trading up with the Buccaneers likely would have cost the Steelers their third-round pick, too, which they ended up using on Penn State quarterback Drew Allar.

Pittsburgh was also willing to trade up for safety Caleb Downs and wide receiver Carnell Tate, Dulac added, though both were selected long before they were in the Steelers’ range. Tate went surprisingly early to the Titans at No. 4, while the Cowboys moved up one pick to snag Downs at No. 11. An aggressive move up for Downs would have required Pittsburgh’s second-round pick, which they used to grab one of their other preferred wideouts, Alabama’s Germie Bernard.