Pick the best front office move in black and gold history
A month ago, we started with the Pittsburgh Steelers’ 64-greatest front office moves. They faced-off, March Madness-style, fueled by your votes. Now we’ve made it to the finals for the toughest decision yet.
FINALS
Pierogi Bracket champion
1 seed: April 20, 1996 – Traded for running back Jerome Bettis
(Traded 2nd round pick (59th overall, Ernie Conwell) and 1997 4th round (121st overall later traded, Jerome Daniels) to Rams for Bettis and 1996 3rd round (72nd overall, Steve Conley)
In one of the most lopsided transactions in NFL history, Pittsburgh moved down 13 spots from pick 59 to 72 and added a future 3rd rounder in exchange for Jerome Bettis. The Rams were transitioning to a pass-oriented offense and drafted Nebraska’s Lawrence Phillips. St. Louis gave Bettis the option to pick his destination, and he almost considered Houston. Writers in Pittsburgh didn’t love the trade initially, because Bettis had a pair of down seasons and his contract was up at the end of the year. But they changed their tune after The Bus won Comeback Player of the Year and became the highest-paid player in Steelers history at that point.
VS
Halupki Bracket champion
1 seed: April 26, 2003 – Traded up to draft safety Troy Polamalu
(Traded 1st round pick (27th overall, Larry Johnson), 3rd round pick (92nd overall, Julian Battle) and 6th round pick (200th overall subsequently traded, Brooks Bollinger) to Chiefs for 1st round pick (16th overall, Troy Polamalu)
Pittsburgh was almost not in the market for a safety in 2003. The Steelers had a verbal agreement with Dexter Jackson, the reigning Super Bowl MVP, but he would end up signing with Arizona. Polamalu was the top-ranked safety in the draft. When San Diego traded down at pick 15 instead of addressing the safety position, Pittsburgh traded up from 27 to 16 with the Chiefs. The Steelers traded away the 92nd and 200th overall picks.
I’m grateful to everyone who joined me on this journey. I hope you learned something that you didn’t know before. See you at Steelers March Madness ‘26!