Steelers Had Tampa Bay GM Anxious They Were Going To Steal Graham Barton

The Pittsburgh Steelers surprised some by selecting another tackle, Troy Fautanu, out of Washington in the 2024 NFL Draft. Many analysts believed the Steelers would target their biggest position of need first, center. In the waning days before the draft, the name that came up most often was Graham Barton out of Duke.

While all teams have some predictable tells that let you know they are interested in a specific player, the Steelers tend to hold their cards even closer to their chest than other teams. It worked with Fautanu, it wasn't just analysts and fans that were fooled, they worried the Tampa Bay Buccaneers General Manager Jason Licht. 

Licht recently spoke with Adam Schein on SiriusXM's Mad Dog Radio channel during the Schein on Sports show. He told the host that he tried to trade up to ensure Tampa Bay could get their target in Barton but they were not successful. The Buccaneers were 26th overall, and the Steelers were 20th. Licht was worried Pittsburgh would steal their man.

Schein told Licht that Barton seemed like a solid fit for Tampa Bay and that he has everything an NFL team would be looking for in a center, a position the Buccaneers need. He called him "smart, tough, physical" and said it must have been a "no-brainer." Licht said it wasn't quite that easy, but not because of Barton.

"It was a no-brainer for us. And I will be quite honest with you: I didn't think that there was snowball's chance in hell that he was going to be there at our pick. So, when the board started to slide and fall the way it did, with the quarterbacks going and the run on some certain positions, I started to get pretty nervous. I attempted to move up."

Of course, hindsight is 20/20, and now Licht is thrilled with how it all turned out. They didn't have to spend any capital moving up and they still got Barton. The Buccaneers weren't necessarily desperate for a tackle, but they did need a guard. There was a lot of talk before the draft that Fautanu would be moved to guard in the NFL. In addition, Fautanu was not originally supposed to last until 20, so perhaps Licht felt that anticipation of possibility when he started to fall. 

Licht then tells Schein that Barton was their top man all along but leaves room to wonder if he really was interested in Fautanu or if he would have taken Fautanu if the Steelers had gone Barton. At the very least, his flexibility, like Barton's, had to be appealing. Shein asked Licht when he started to get a bit nervous. 

"It was at 20 there with Pittsburgh because I know how they value their offensive linemen. And I think they got a h***uva pick there (Troy Fautanu), too. But it was about then."

He knew that the Steelers started a run of teams that might be interested in taking Barton. He got lucky; those teams, other than the Steelers and the Green Bay Packers, who took tackle Jordan Morgan at 25, went in different directions. 

Of course, Licht doesn't spell out whether or not he tried to trade with Pittsburgh. Perhaps he knew they'd be unlikely, given the similarity in needs. Steelers General Manager Omar Khan has said that the team did have offers to move back, but they wanted to make sure they got Fautanu. The rookie himself said that Khan was so nervous that he called to check to see if he was getting calls from other teams. 

Both the Steelers and the Buccaneers have said they got the player they desired. Whether that is exactly true or not is impossible to discern. 

Steelers Beefed Up Their Offense With This Year's Draft

Khan and the rest of the Steelers team delivered on their promise to beef up the trenches this year. While there was speculation that the team would take a "sexier" pick first, like a cornerback or a wide receiver, most insiders felt they would stick with an offensive lineman, either a tackle or a center. 

They used their second pick to snag the center they so desperately needed in Zach Frazier. The fact that Frazier was still available at 51 led to Steeler Nation breathing a huge sigh of relief. We don't know how the Steelers ranked players, but from an outside perspective, 20 felt like a reach for a center, but 51 felt like it might be too late. 

Then, in the third round, they chose wide receiver Roman Wilson. While you might be dismissing Wilson as a member of the trenches, one of the things the Steelers love about him is the fact that he also blocks. The Steelers went through drama in 2023 with a receiver who didn't want to block and didn't want to revisit that same situation. Wilson says he loves to block, calls it fun, and said that the line blocks for him, and he said he isn't above them so he wants to help.

Along with the Steelers' new quarterbacks, the upgraded line promises to make for a more exciting upcoming season than we have seen.