PITTSBURGH -- Four hours before the 2025 NFL trade deadline Tuesday, Mike Tomlin responded to a question from the media about the Pittsburgh Steelers being "buyers" with a grin.
"We'll see what happens," he said. "I like shopping."
Turns out, the 53-year-old coach meant window-shopping.
The Steelers didn't make any additional moves before Tuesday's 4 p.m. ET cut off, leaving safety Kyle Dugger, whom they acquired in a late-round pick swap with the New England Patriots last week, as their lone in-season trade.
A year ago, Tomlin called the moves made around the league's midseason trade deadline an "arms race" as Pittsburgh landed wide receiver Mike Williams and pass rusher Preston Smith. Neither, though, had a significant, lasting impact beyond their debut game against the Washington Commanders, and the moves cost the Steelers fifth- and seventh-round picks. This time around, though, the Steelers mostly stayed pat, unwilling to part with significant draft capital to further upgrade their secondary or enhance their wide receiver corps.
In doing so, the Steelers signaled that they're not making drastic moves to go all-in to win a Super Bowl -- at least not this year -- and not with the league's second-oldest roster (behind the Commanders).
"I just know that if you're trending in the right direction, if you've got the desire to be in this thing, as the road gets narrow, usually you're open to adding talent that can assist you, whether it's attrition-based or whether it's just areas where you fall short," Tomlin said Tuesday when asked if he thought there was a trend of teams becoming more aggressive at the trade deadline. "And that's something that I think some of the competitive teams are interested in year in and year out. It's just a natural component of this thing."
Instead of using the trade market to add that talent, the Steelers held on to valuable draft capital with an eye on the 2026 draft (which will be hosted in Pittsburgh), where they could use those picks to make a significant move up the draft board to land their quarterback of the future or a premium wide receiver to pair with DK Metcalf.
As currently constructed, this aging roster has undeniable weaknesses. Injuries have decimated the safeties. The spring trade that sent George Pickens to the Dallas Cowboys left the wide receivers without a bona fide No. 2. Veteran corner Darius Slay, 34, has shown his age at points early in the season. And though the defensive line added first-round pick Derrick Harmon, the depth of the group has been tested with injuries to Isaiahh Loudermilk, Daniel Ekuale and Dean Lowry.
But in the week leading up to deadline, the Steelers only added Dugger -- who was an instant boost to the secondary and played nearly all of the snaps in the Steelers' Week 9 win over the Indianapolis Colts -- and signed wide receiver Marquez Valdes-Scantling, a former teammate of Aaron Rodgers' in Green Bay, and several other players to the practice squad.
Pittsburgh was involved in discussions to trade for Las Vegas wide receiver Jakobi Meyers, sources told ESPN's Adam Schefter, but were ultimately outbid by the Jacksonville Jaguars. Jacksonville landed Meyers, who has just a few months left on his rookie deal, for fourth- and sixth-round picks. New Orleans Saints wide receiver Rashid Shaheed was available, too, ultimately going to the Seattle Seahawks for fourth- and fifth-round picks.
It doesn't mean the AFC North-leading Steelers (5-3) aren't competitive this season or that they don't have playoff aspirations. Calvin Austin III, who led the team in receiving yards (56) against the Colts, continues to emerge as an explosive offensive target. And several of the team's tight ends has become reliable targets for Rodgers. On the other side of the ball, Jalen Ramsey's versatility has plugged several holes in the secondary with industrial-strength duct tape.
Even so, the team seemingly signaled by not making moves at the trade deadline a recognition that the natural ceiling of this roster might fall short of the organization's seventh Vince Lombardi Trophy. Instead, a successful season could look like simply ending nearly a decade of playoff futility -- assuming the defensive issues that plagued them through the better part of the first seven games are behind them after executing a simplified, yet solid game plan against the Colts.
The Steelers are a team in transition, even as Rodgers outperforms outside expectations and shows flashes of his vintage form as he nears his 42nd birthday on Dec. 2. Rodgers signed a one-year, $13.65 million deal this offseason, and while there are scenarios where he could return to Pittsburgh in 2026, the team will still need a franchise quarterback in the near future. By retaining picks at the deadline, the Steelers give themselves optimal flexibility to either make a move in this year's draft, trade for a free agent, or continue to build toward drafting a quarterback in 2027.
An organization that built its prior success by drafting and developing its own players had an uncharacteristic offseason, trading for Metcalf, defensive back Jalen Ramsey and tight end Jonnu Smith and signing Rodgers and Slay. But as they made those moves, the Steelers still avoided giving up significant draft capital. Metcalf cost them a second-rounder and a late-round pick swap, while Smith's and Ramsey's compensation came from the 2027 draft.
As it stands, the Steelers' 2026 picks include their original picks in the first, third and fourth rounds, but they could also add compensatory picks in the third and fourth rounds. There could also be a handful of late-round compensatory picks from the departure of quarterback Russell Wilson and cornerback Donte Jackson, according to Over the Cap.
By staying quiet at the trade deadline, the Steelers are playing the long game, and perhaps most importantly, are merging their new-found aggression with their old-school mentality to form their identity of the future.