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Steelers Open to Center Trade

The Pittsburgh Steelers are keeping an eye on the trade market so they can add to their offensive line.

Stephen Thompson

Pittsburgh Steelers v Los Angeles Rams
Pittsburgh Steelers v Los Angeles Rams / Ronald Martinez/GettyImages
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PITTSBURGH -- The Pittsburgh Steelers released starting center Mason Cole at the beginning of the offseason and, ever since, have been exploring how to replace him.

The NFL Draft and free agent pools are logical places for the Steelers to start but they are willing to exhaust all options to find the keystone piece of their offensive line, general manager Omar Khan told reporters during the NFL owners' meetings in Orlando, Florida this week.

“All options are still on the table. There’s some players out there that are free agents. There’s maybe some trade opportunities and there’s the draft," Khan told All Steelers' Noah Strackbein at the NFL Meetings. "We have [Nate] Herbig around, and as I mentioned to you guys in Indy, we have some offensive linemen who have some versatility. … It’s a work in progress and there’s still a lot of time between now and Latrobe.”

There are viable options available in the draft like Oregon's Jackson Powers-Johnson and Georgia's Sedrick Van Pran. The free agency market is thinner, with the options for an upgrade at center decreasing after a flurry of signings when free agency opened this offseason.

The Steelers currently have limited options to run out at center. If the season started today, Nate Herbig, who's played guard primarily during his time with the Steelers, would likely be the starter. James Daniels, also primarily a guard, has some prior experience snapping and so does 2023 seventh-round draft pick Spencer Anderson, but Anderson only did so in college.

The Steelers are clearly interested in adding a center to their roster and they'll search high and low to find the right one.

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Stephen Thompson
STEPHEN THOMPSON

Stephen Thompson graduated with a bachelor's degree in communications and political science from Pitt in April 2022 after spending four years as a sports writer and editor at The Pitt News, the University of Pittsburgh's independent, student-run newspaper. He primarily worked the Pitt men's basketball beat, and filled in on coverage of football, volleyball, softball, gymnastics and lacrosse, in addition to other sports as needed. His work at The Pitt News has won awards from the Pennsylvania News Media Association and Associated College Press. During the spring and summer of 2021, Stephen interned for Pittsburgh Sports Now, covering baseball in western Pennsylvania. Hailing from Washington D.C., family ties have cultivated a love of Boston's professional teams and Pitt athletics, and a fascination with sports in general. 

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