Are Cards and Steelers Talking a Starks Trade?

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Call this one an answered prayer, if it's true. Pro Football Talk is reporting that there is a rumor floating out there that the Steelers and Cardinals could work a trade that would send offensive tackle Max Starks to Arizona. In return, the Steelers and Cardinals would flip first round picks (the Steelers have the 15th pick while the Cardinals pick fifth).

It's hard to figure out the downside of this for the Steelers. Starks played poorly last season, and while he still has a world of potential, there are some questions about whether Starks would even keep his starting job in Pittsburgh. ESPN.com's Len Pasquarelli reported in an Insider report on Friday that Willie Colon will be given a chance to replace him. But for the Cardinals, Starks would help upgrade the line, and new head coach Ken Whisenhunt and offensive line coach Russ Grimm are quite familiar with the mammoth tackle.
At the 15th spot, the Steelers are looking at someone like outside linebacker/defensive end Jarvis Moss, if they were able to move up to No. 5, all of a sudden Clemson's Gaines Adams, the best pass rusher in this year's draft would be a possibility. While Colon would be a drop off from Starks, the Steelers weren't sure they were going to re-sign Starks when he became an unrestricted free agent next year, and they can add a tackle in the draft as well.

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

4-01-2007 @ 12:14PM

Ted Kian said...

This trade would be a dream, but we would have to give up much more than just Starks to get up to No. 5. I would also throw in a third-rounder to get Gaines Adams, who would be an absolute terror as a 3-4 OLB for the Steelers. Heck, let Whis and Grimm have Kendall Simmons as well. He is a waste.

4-01-2007 @ 1:00PM

rc21pitt said...

Is this an April Fool's Joke on the part of PFT? lol! They are perhaps the the National Enquirer of the online sportsworld. Hmmmmm..but the Cards did seem to like Oliver Ross... this would be such a lopsided trade though. I think its a joke. Are you sure they weren't talking about Alan Faneca?

4-02-2007 @ 12:07AM

adc said...

The Steelers should only do this if they can find a way to come out of the draft with 2 of the 3 players in Levi Brown, Adam Carriker, and Paul Posluszny. If they would get Paul and Adam, they could immediately play the 4-3 and 3-4 both.

4-02-2007 @ 1:37AM

AndyD said...

This would be a great trade for the Steelers moving up to draft Gaines Adams to replace Joey Porter as the outside linebacker. There is no chance of this happening if Joe Thomas is there at 5, and I believe this will not happen anyways because Whisenhunt is high on Adrian Peterson who would be a much better fit for his new I-formation offense than Edgerin James is.