The Pittsburgh Steelers secondary will look quite different than what we saw last year. What changes have they made, and what can we expect in terms of changes in 2025?
The Steelers made a splash by signing Super Bowl champion Darius Slay Jr from the Philadelphia Eagles. Slay is a valuable member of any secondary who can lead a room of young players who are inexperienced and still need to grow. Slay, with his Super Bowl experience and veteran leadership, could very much be a leader in the secondary room.
Behind Slay, the Steelers have an intriguing young player in Corey Trice. Trice had one interception in six games played last year. The issue around him, however, are the injuries that he has suffered. He missed all of the 2023 season due to an ACL injury that was sustained in training camp. In the most recent season, Trice suffered a hamstring injury that had sidelined him for the rest of the year.
The Steelers look for Joey Porter Jr to take a step forward from some of the struggles he had last year at cornerback. Porter is the Steelers number one shutdown corner. Porter’s major issue from last year was being way too aggressive in defending the pass, resulting in way too many pass interference penalties. Darius Slay made this a focal point to the fans when he signed with Pittsburgh, saying: “I’m gonna make sure to get him right.”
If Porter goes down , the Steelers have James Pierre. Pierre is a role player who can be held accountable during the course of a game.
At strong safety, the Steelers have DeShon Elliot. Elliot was one of the most consistent members of the Steelers secondary last year. Elliot had seventy-three solo tackles, two forced fumbles, one interception, and six passes defended.
The Steelers have Miles Killebrew on the bench, another role player who spends most of his time on special teams.
The biggest question in the Steelers secondary is free safety Minkah Fitzpatrick. It’s no secret that Fitzpatrick had a down year last year and has seemingly seemed to have lost his big play ability. The splash plays Pittsburgh had become accustomed to were just not there all year. Fitzpatrick only had one interception, one forced fumble and four passes defended. For a player of Fitzpatrick’s caliber, and what he’s being paid, that is simply not good enough.
To take some pressure off of Fitzpatrick, the Pittsburgh Steelers signed Juan Thornhill in free agency. Thornhill won two Super Bowls with the Kansas City Chiefs before signing with the Browns in free agency in 2023. He started for Cleveland for two years before being cut on February 24th of this year. On March 19th, 2025, he signed a one year deal with the Pittsburgh Steelers. The addition of Thornhill gives the Steelers another capable body in nickel or dime coverages.
At the nickel corner position, the Steelers have Brandon Echols. Echols was a free agent signing who came over from the New York Jets. Echols had a decent year for the Jets last year, registering 29 solo tackles, two interceptions and three passes defended.
Next to Echols, the Steelers have Beanie Bishop Jr.. Bishop had some nice moments last year, most notably picking off then quarterback for the New York Jets Aaron Rodgers twice. Bishop finished his season with four total interceptions, thirty solo tackles and seven passes defended.
In terms of secondary depth, the Steelers have Kyler McMichael, D’Shawn Jamison and Cameron McCutcheon as corner depth, and Ryan Watts and Joshua Bledsoe at safety. The Steelers could use a little bit more depth at both positions, and with the NFL draft right around the corner, it will be interesting to see the route the Steelers go to add to the secondary.
Overall, the Pittsburgh Steelers have some talent in the secondary, but could definitely use a body or two to add some depth.