One of the staples of an NFL offseason is the circulation of rumors about players being on the trade block, most of which never surface. Some of them may actually have had substance but simply never materialized. Others may have been total fictions. Sometimes it’s the team telling a story before actually substantiating the rumor.
The Pittsburgh Steelers are not immune to this. They have talked about having no plans to trade Martavis Bryant and Chase Claypool, for example, before trading them both. Even if they admittedly got disproportionately good value in both cases.
The Steelers are again the subject of idle trade speculation this offseason concerning quarterback Mitch Trubisky, which probably has less merit than most since nobody wants to trade for an $8 million backup quarterback.