Dustin Satloff/Getty Images Andre Dillard of the Philadelphia Eagles on August 27, 2021.
With the NFL trade deadline now less than three weeks away, trade rumors are heating up all over the league. Not surprisingly, the Pittsburgh Steelers are a big part of the conversation, owing to their many needs — mostly on defense but also on the offensive side of the ball.
In the most recent edition of his NFL Power Rankings, Bo Wulf of The Athletic suggests that the No. 30 ranked Steelers address one of those needs by acquiring offensive tackle Andre Dillard from the No. 2 ranked Philadelphia Eagles.
Andre Dillard Was a 1st-Round Pick in 2019
It’s not an unreasonable thought, especially when you consider that Dillard, 27, was drafted under the watch of Steelers Assistant General Manager Andy Weidl when he was Philadelphia’s Vice President of Player Personnel.
“The Steelers’ season is going to be a long one that’s likely to land Mike Tomlin with a losing record, but protecting Kenny Pickett needs to be their top priority,” begins Wulf. “Pickett has been preternaturally decisive for a rookie in his first two games, and his willingness to stand in the pocket before taking a big hit is admirable, but they might need to save him from himself. Dillard, the Eagles’ first-round pick in 2019 (No. 22 overall), is set to return soon from a forearm injury and would provide competent play at the position. The play of Jack Driscoll at left tackle the past two weeks has probably made trading Dillard more palatable for the Eagles, with Dillard set to be a free agent this offseason.”
All that explains why Dillard — who is 6-foot-5 and 315 pounds — could be available for a modest cost in terms of draft capital, or perhaps as part of a player-for-player swap.
The financial cost would be reasonable, too, as the Steelers would take on the remaining prorated portion of his 2022 salary, which amounts to approximately $1.54 million as of this writing, and will go down by $128,355 each week that goes by.
The biggest concern about Dillard is his injury history.
He was placed on injured reserve on Sept. 6 after suffering a broken forearm in practice — an injury that required surgery. But he was designated to return from IR on Oct. 5 and returned to practice the same day.
More notably, still, Dillard missed the entire 2020 season with a torn biceps, which opened the door for Jordan Mailata to take his left tackle job. That helps explain why he has appeared in just 31 regular-season games (with nine starts) since entering the NFL.
But as noted by Wulf, Dillard has provided competent play when he has been on the field. In 2021 he earned a 69.6 overall grade from Pro Football Focus (PFF), bolstered by a 71.7 pass blocking grade.
By those measures he would be an upgrade from current Steelers left tackle Dan Moore Jr., who posted a 57.8 PFF grade as a rookie and has struggled at times this season, with a 60.5 overall grade that has been dragged down by a 53.9 run blocking mark.
Some Eagles observers believe Dillard has recovered to the point that he will be active and serving as the backup at left tackle when Philadelphia hosts Dallas on Sunday Night Football.