Steelers use pick on a safety
Oakland for Bryant, the Steelers did not made a trade on a night in which there were six trades made among the first 22 first-round choices, seven overall.
Edmunds played at Virginia Tech. The Steelers picked him over Ronnie Harrison of Alabama and Justin Reid of Stanford at the position.
Edmunds is 6-1, 217 and safety was another need on defense for a team that released starting free safety Mike Mitchell. They also signed veteran Morgan Burnett in free agency.
“He does fill that void of a nice young defender on the back end,’’ Colbert said. “Terrell Edmunds is a very gifted, athletic, physical safety who has played free safety, strong safety. He may rotate from one to the other in the same play.”
Mike Tomlin said they can use Edmunds all over the secondary.
“Anything you can imagine him doing, you saw him doing in Virginia Tech’s defensive tape. That versatility was exciting. We got a sharp, young versatile guy … he checks all the boxes for us.”
Edmunds played 10 games last season through a shoulder injury that was strapped up. He then had surgery and the Steelers have said he has fully recovered.
Edmunds comes from a football family. Brother Tremaine Edmunds, a linebacker, also was drafted in the first round, by the Buffalo Bills. Another brother, Trey, is a New Orleans Saints running back. Dad Ferrell was a Pro Bowl tight end for the Miami Dolphins. Colbert was a scout with Miami when they drafted Ferrell Edmunds.
The two inside linebackers mentioned most as possible Steelers draft picks were gone before their turn came up — and they made no move to trade up to get them.
Colbert acknowledged that picking up the extra third-round pick gave them the ammunition to do so, but he would not reveal whether they tried or not.
Dallas drafted Leighton Vander Esch of Boise State at No. 20 and Tennessee drafted Rashaan Evans of Alabama at No. 22.
Although Colbert said in February that the team was not looking to trade Bryant and dismissed offers from other teams for him, he said Oakland’s offer this time was too good to refuse.
Oakland sent the Steelers the No. 79 overall draft pick for Bryant. That left them thin at wide receiver with only Antonio Brown and JuJu Smith-Schuster on the roster with more than four catches last season. But they do have the rest of the draft to find some.
The extra third-round pick should have provided enough capital for the Steelers to use in a trade and move up in the first round to draft Evans. Instead, it was the Tennessee Titans who traded up to draft him. They swapped with Baltimore to move from 25 to 22, perhaps beating the Steelers to the punch.
The Steelers now have three selections in the next two rounds Friday night — one in the second (60 overall) and two in the third (79 and 92).
The final four rounds take place Saturday. The Steelers have no pick in the fourth round, two in the fifth and one each in the sixth and seventh.
“Having that third in our pocket is very valuable,’’ said Colbert, noting it makes up for not having a fourthrounder.