With the Pittsburgh Steelers releasing veteran cornerback Patrick Peterson, they are now very thin at cornerback.
Levi Wallace, Chandon Sullivan, and now Peterson are all free agents, none of which are expected to return. James Pierre is also on the open market, but based off his history with the team, I can’t imagine they’ll be chomping at the bit to bring him back to Pittsburgh.
Of course fans will be excited about last year’s sleeper in the seventh-round, Cory Trice, who missed all of last season after tearing his ACL in training camp. Darius Rush is another name that saw quality playing time, but the Steelers aren’t going to just pigeonhole themselves with a lot of very young and unproven guys.
The cornerback free agent class isn’t nearly as deep as that of the safeties, but there are multiple good options that the Steelers could pursue. Darious Williams was just released by the Jacksonville Jaguars in large part because they needed money to tag Josh Allen. Kendall Fuller and Adoree’ Jackson are the two best remaining options on the perimeter. Kenny Moore is the best nickel cornerback available. He’s one of the best slot cornerbacks in the game. He has 16 interceptions over the last six seasons, and has been one of the most consistent nickels in football over that span. My best guess is the Steelers will look to sign one bigger name and draft another cornerback early on in the draft.
In terms of safeties, they’ll basically have their pick. The class is rich with talent and very deep. If they wanted to go the flashy, proven veteran route, they could pursue Justin Simmons, Eddie Jackson, or Jordan Poyer (amongst others). If they wanted to go the younger route, they can look at Kamren Curl or Darnell Savage.
Regardless of the routes they go, the Steelers will have a new-look group of secondary players around their two stars, which is certainly for the better.
