The Pittsburgh Steelers are upgrading their secondary once again. They already made a big move this offseason, signing former All-Pro corner Jalen Ramsey and Super Bowl champion Darius Slay. However, they also moved on from star safety Minkah Fitzpatrick. While Juan Thornhill and DeShon Elliott are solid safeties, it's clear the Steelers want to have more star power on that end, especially with Elliott suffering an injury.
Enter Jabrill Peppers. One of the standouts of the New England Patriots' defense, Peppers was a surprising cut by the team during the offseason. Many teams wanted to get Peppers' services. In the end, it was the Steelers who picked up Peppers, per Ian Rapoport.
“Former #Patriots S Jabrill Peppers, a surprise release after cut-down day, is expected to sign with the #Steelers per me and
@MikeGarafolo,” Ian Rapoport reported on X. “They’ve agreed to terms.”
Peppers was released by the Patriots as part of their final roster cut-downs during the offseason. This was a surprise, as Peppers was a solid contributor to a Patriots defense that was one of the best in the league. That being said, he played just six games last season for the Pats due to nagging lower-body injuries. During that time, Peppers recorded forty tackles and an interception.
The Steelers didn't have good depth behind their starting safety duo of Thornhill and Elliott. With the latter suffering a knee injury, though, it became clear that the team needed to sign another defensive back to shore up their secondary. Peppers might not be the same game-altering talent he was at one point, but he should still be a good defender who will shine in a good defense.
The Steelers are coming off a huge win against the surprisingly resurgent New York Jets. While the defense got torched most of the game by former Pittsburgh QB Justin Fields, it was Ramsey who came up with the game-sealing stop on Garrett Wilson.
