The Pittsburgh Steelers did the unthinkable Sunday, covering the spread as 9.5-point home underdogs and beat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Pittsburgh went into the game down their top defender in T.J. Watt, one of their top pass catchers in TE Pat Freiermuth, and had most of their starting secondary out of the game with injuries, relying heavily on backups and guys recently signed to the roster to defend Bucs QB Tom Brady. Pittsburgh also lost QB Kenny Pickett to a concussion in the third quarter, prompting Mitch Trubisky to come in off the bench and help lead the Steelers to a win.
Trubisky unceremoniously got benched at halftime Week 4 against the New York Jets in-favor of Kenny Pickett who went on to start Week 5 on the road at Buffalo and Week 6 against the Buccaneers before leaving the game. Trubisky came in and played the best we have seen from him all season as he went 9/12 (75%) for 122 yards and a TD and carried the ball six times for five yards with a long on nine yards on the ground. He finished the outing with a QB rating of 142.4 and completed multiple third down conversions to keep the offense on the field and pull off the upset win against the Buccaneers.
WR Chase Claypool also lived a bit of a redemption story Sunday afternoon after a rocky start to the 2022 season. The third-year pro led the team in receiving with 96 yards while catching all seven of his targets with one catch going for a score. He averaged 13.7 YPR and posted his best statical performance since Week 5 of 2021.
Both Trubisky and Claypool were subject to potential trade talk prior to Sunday’s game as both players were on a skid without a clear vision as to what their value would be for the team going forward. Trubisky appeared to be the clear backup to Kenny Pickett for the rest of the 2022 season and with a base salary of $8 million and a cap number of $10.625 million according to OverTheCap next season, it looked all-but-certain that Trubisky would be either cut or traded by the start of 2023.
There was a similar sentiment for Claypool who had failed to overcome the sophomore slump and hadn’t posted above 50 receiving yards in any game yet this season. He appeared to have taken a backseat to rookie WR George Pickens in the pecking order and issues with effort in games and continual problems involving his blocking and making contested catches made many wonder if Pittsburgh would attempt to send him away for pennies on the dollar.
However, both Trubisky and Claypool were the pivotal pieces offense that led Pittsburgh to victory on Sunday, thus leaving the team an interesting situation regarding their WR and QB. With Pickett in concussion protocol, Trubisky could be in-line to start next Sunday night against the Miami Dolphins. Still, Pittsburgh also has Mason Rudolph on the roster who has been a game day inactive thus far this season and has been a part of trade rumors himself. Pittsburgh could opt to trade either Trubisky off his best performance of the season to a team needing a capable QB or possibly Rudolph who had a strong preseason and is on the final year of his contract.
The Steelers face a similar possible scenario with Chase Claypool who looked to be on his way out after next season the way things were trending. Instead of selling him low, Pittsburgh could have the opportunity to sell high on Claypool to a team in desperate need for WRs like the Packers, Rams, Ravens, Giants, or another squad in need of a young, physically gifted playmaker.
While both Trubisky and Claypool’s trade value is currently up after Sunday, the possibility of either getting dealt before the trade deadline likely diminishes for a team that is coached by Mike Tomlin who still believes that they are in the thick of it in terms of contending for a playoff spot. While Pittsburgh could try and sell high after both had a good performance, they will likely opt to keep both to see what the rest of the 2022 holds for the 23-year-old receiver who still has one year left on his rookie contract as well as their former starter and current team captain at QB who filled in admirably with Pickett getting knocked out and potentially missing more time.
What are your thoughts on Mitch Trubisky and Chase Claypool? Do you think that both players increased their trade value with their respective performances Sunday? Do you see Pittsburgh taking calls on either player, or that they will hold onto both for the rest of 2022? Which one of the two is more likely to get dealt and what is your reasoning? Please leave your thoughts in the comments section below and thanks again for reading!