It’s generally not a great idea for an organization to surprise their franchise quarterback, but the Pittsburgh Steelers dealt quarterback Ben Roethlisberger a couple of surprises this past weekend during the 2018 NFL Draft. For one thing, though he surely knew it was a possibility, they traded up (albeit in the third round) for a quarterback already being viewed as a candidate to be his heir apparent.
But the bigger surprise came the day before, and prior to the team even making any selections in the draft, when they opted to deal fourth-year wide receiver Martavis Bryant for a third-round draft pick.