ESPN's Bill Barnwell does a fascinating NFL draft exercise where the entire mock draft consists of trades. It's a wild concept that involves no actual rookies. Just a trade scenario for all 32 NFL teams. We applaud the amount of work Barnwell puts into this project and so kudos to him.
As far as the Pittsburgh Steelers go, he went high risk/high reward with their move. Barnwell has the Steelers sending the No. 21 overall pick and a conditional 2027 pick to the Indianapolis Colts in exchange for the No. 45 overall pick and quarterback Anthony Richardson.
Here's a bit of what Barnwell had to say about the move:
I like the fit for Richardson in the Steelers' offense. His arm strength would be a terrifying combination with DK Metcalf and George Pickens. Coordinator Arthur Smith has incorporated quarterback run concepts in each of his stops, although he would likely need to lean into those concepts further with Richardson under center. He might not be an immediate starter if the Steelers sign Aaron Rodgers, but he could take a much-needed redshirt year and then start in 2026.
Barnwell asks if anyone would be shocked if head coach Mike Tomlin got more out of Richardson than what he's shown with the Colts. The honest answer is, yeah, we really would. Since the retirement of Ben Roethlisberger, the Steelers quarterback depth chart has been a chaotic wasteland with a revolving door akin to the Cleveland Browns. This is part of the reason why signing Aaron Rodgers might make more sense because Rodgers is going to do what he wants and Tomlin can't really negatively impact his game.
This article originally appeared on Steelers Wire: Steelers trade for Anthony Richardson in new ESPN mock draft
