Pittsburgh spent Friday moving pieces around the board and came away with two more names for its 2026 draft class. The Steelers traded with the Indianapolis Colts to go from No. 53 to No. 47, then used the pick on Alabama wide receiver Germie Bernard before later taking Penn State quarterback Drew Allar at No. 76 overall.
The move with Indianapolis cost Pittsburgh a fourth-round compensatory pick and a seventh-round pick. It also came after the Steelers stayed put in the first round and selected Arizona State offensive tackle Max Iheanachor, a sign they were willing to hold one spot but not wait forever once the receivers started to disappear.
That mattered because several top receivers had already flown off the board before Pittsburgh made its push for Bernard. The Steelers also kept working deeper into Day 2, and at 10:55 p.m. they traded up again, this time to No. 96, sending picks 99 and 216 to the Seattle Seahawks.
The sequence fit the shape of Pittsburgh's draft so far: address offense, look for a developmental quarterback and still preserve enough capital to keep working on the final day. Bernard gives the Steelers a receiver after the board thinned around them, while Allar adds another quarterback to a class that already includes Iheanachor in the first round.
The 2026 NFL Draft was scheduled to air live on ABC, and NFL Network, with Round 1 set for 8 p.m. ET on Thursday. For Pittsburgh, the important part is no longer where it started on the board. It is how many different ways it has chosen to stay active while the draft keeps moving around it.
