(Photo by Cindy Ord/Getty Images)
With Ben Roethlisberger turning 39 in March and entering the final year of his contract and Deshaun Watson requesting to be traded by the Texans, Steelers fans have dreamed of the possibility of landing the highly talented signal-caller.
The Rams traded two first-round picks to the Lions for Matthew Stafford, so Watson is worth at least three first-round picks. Watson is only 25 years old and seven years younger than Stafford. He's also a top-five quarterback in the league. Despite not having much talent to work with in 2020, Watson completed 70.2% of his passes for 4,823 yards, 33 touchdowns, seven interceptions and had a quarterback rating of 112.4.
Trading for Watson is also highly unlikely for the Steelers as they simply just wouldn't be able to afford his contract. The Steelers are projected to be $20-30 million over the cap depending on what the cap limit is for the 2021 season. Of course, under such a scenario of trading for Watson, the Steelers would release Roethlisberger and save $19 million in cap space but would have $22.25 million in dead money.
It's also unclear if the Texans would even want to trade Watson, as they would have a dead money charge of $21.6 million.
Former Steelers Hall of Fame quarterback and four-time Super Bowl champion Terry Bradshaw was asked by Mackenzie Salmon of USA Today Sports on Wednesday if the Steelers should make a legitimate run for Watson.
Bradshaw was blown away by the idea of Pittsburgh trading for Watson.
"Boy, I would, if that's what they want to do. For Deshaun Watson? He's one of the top five quarterbacks in this league," Bradshaw said. "Man, I haven't even thought about that. He would be something. If I'm Houston, I'm painting his toenails whatever color he wants. I'm hugging and loving on this boy because I'm telling you he is the real deal. But if he could go to Pittsburgh, whoo, that would be awesome."
Watson in the black and gold would be a great sight to see but in all likelihood, it won't happen. The Steelers heir apparent for Roethlisberger will probably come in the 2022 NFL Draft.