The city of Pittsburgh will be hosting the 2026 NFL Draft, and the hometown Steelers will be on the stage a lot.

Following the Steelers’ trade of George Pickens to the Dallas Cowboys (Pickens and a 2027 sixth-round pick for the Cowboys’ 2026 third-rounder and 2027 fifth-rounder), the Steelers are projected to have a whopping 12 selections in the 2026 NFL Draft.

Steelers projected 2026 NFL Draft picks

First-round pick
Second-round pick
Third-round pick (via Dallas)
Third-round pick
Third-round pick (projected compensatory pick)
Fourth-round pick
Fourth-round pick (projected compensatory pick)
Fifth-round pick
Fifth-round pick (projected compensatory pick)
Sixth-round pick
Sixth-round pick (projected compensatory pick)
Seventh-round pick

The compensatory picks are predicted using NFL.com’s Lance Zierlein’s projections. The comp pick formula isn’t available to the public, and contract incentives (such as those in Russell Wilson’s Giants contract) could further help the Steelers.

Can the Steelers use their 2026 picks to trade up for a quarterback?

The Steelers won’t be able to make a sizable jump up in the first round with just their handful of 2026 third-rounders. They’d need to use current or future second-round picks and/or their 2027 first-round pick, and even then, teams like the Cleveland Browns, which hold two 2026 first-rounders, are going to have more ammo to move up.

A lot depends on how Pittsburgh finishes the 2025 season, of course. Moving up from the 20s to the top 10 is certainly doable (it cost Pittsburgh a second-rounder and future third to move from No. 20 to No. 10 for Devin Bush in 2019) — but getting into the top five range is ridiculously expensive.

In the 2025 NFL Draft, the Jacksonville Jaguars had to spend their second-round pick, fourth-round pick, and future first-round pick to move up just three spots from No. 5 to No. 2 in the first round (Jacksonville did receive the Browns’ fourth- and sixth-round picks in that trade).

Moving up for a franchise quarterback won’t be cheap, especially if there’s a bidding war.

However, the Steelers have more than enough 2026 draft capital to easily move up a few slots in the first round. In 2024, the Vikings traded up twice in the first round: Swapping a fourth- and fifth-round pick for a sixth-round pick to move up from No. 11 to No. 10 to draft J.J. McCarthy, and then they sent a fifth-round pick and a future third and fourth to jump from No. 23 to No. 17 to draft Dallas Turner.

If the 2026 quarterback class is deep enough to have some first-round passers fall out of the top five, the Steelers can reasonably move up to get their guy.

Plus, having a surplus of picks in the 2026 draft means the Steelers would be more willing to trade away capital — it’s easier to part ways with a second-round pick knowing the team still has three Day 2 picks available.

Again, everything depends on how the Steelers finish in 2025, how many teams are looking for a franchise quarterback in 2026, and how deep the upcoming quarterback class really is. Nothing is certain, but Pittsburgh looks poised for a monster draft class in a year.