For instance this is the trade up for Troy.
Draft dealings
Polamalu knew a lot was riding on his pro day outing.
He had missed the Orange Bowl and suffered through what he referred to as “an injury-plagued senior season.” He had put in long hours with trainers making sure he was at his best when the scouts arrived en masse. He had heard rumblings that the Steelers and Ravens were two teams particularly high on him (Colbert wouldn’t want to consider what it would have been like having to face Baltimore for a decade with Ed Reed, the Ravens top pick in 2002, and Troy Polamalu as their safety pairing).
“I remember my agent saying before my pro day that I was going to go late first or be a second-round pick,” Polamalu said. “But he also told me you really can’t rely on any of those estimations. When I visited Baltimore, their defensive backs coach Dennis Thurmond, he was my defensive backs coach at USC, and he said Pittsburgh had interest in me (in the first round). And he really liked for Ed and I to play together in Baltimore, but to draft two safeties would have tough for (general manager) Ozzie Newsome to do at the time.”
The more the Steelers studied Polamalu the more they fell in love with him, and he ultimately ended up with a top-10 grade on their board. So when the Chargers, who needed safety help after losing Rodney Harrison in free agency, passed on him, it was time for Colbert and the Steelers to pounce. They did plenty of homework ahead of time that April, lining up potential trade partners.
“We really didn’t think he’d get to 27,” Colbert said.
Through his preliminary work he knew the Chiefs, at pick 16, were looking to trade down (targeting that same Larry Johnson later in the round; had the Steelers stayed at pick 27 and Polamalu been drafted elsewhere, Johnson very likely would have been Pittsburgh’s pick, too). Cowher had a strong relationship with Chiefs GM Carl Peterson, and they spoke several times in the days leading up to the draft, working out the intricacies of the trade the morning of the draft.
“I told Carl, listen, if the player we want is here (at pick 16), then we’ll do this deal,” Cowher recalled. “So we came to an agreement. And he said, ‘I know who you want.’ And I go, ‘OK, whatever.’” Peterson feared the Steelers were moving up to get his back, but, alas, Johnson was destined to go 27th regardless.
Pittsburgh dealt a third-round pick and a sixth-round pick to get to 16 – those Chiefs’ picks were eventually used on Julian Battle and Brooks Bollinger – and the Steelers had their man.
Process started way before the draft.
