Steelers submit formal bid to host 2026 or 2027 draft

The Steelers are officially on the clock to host the event where every team is on the clock.

Via Joe Rutter of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, the Steelers officially submitted a bid on Friday to host the 2026 or 2027 NFL draft. Today was the deadline for doing so.

“I think we’re optimistic that we’ll bring it here in the not-too-distant future,” Steeler president Art Rooney II said last month.

Detroit will host the 2024 draft. Next year, the draft goes to Green Bay.

It actually won’t be the first time Pittsburgh has hosted the draft. As noted by Rutter, the 1948 draft happened at the Fort Pitt hotel, in December 1947.

That year, the Steelers drafted quarterback Bobby Layne with the third overall selection. He didn’t want to play for the Steelers; his rights were sold to the Bears. In 1950, he landed with the Lions. Eight years later, he was traded back to the Steelers.