OCTOBER 18: No trade partner emerged. The Steelers are moving on from the veteran corner via a release, ESPN.com’s Field Yates tweets. This situation came about due to King’s lack of playing time, The Athletic’s Mark Kaboly tweets. The Steelers are the second team to cut King in two months, with a Texans release sending him to Pittsburgh. With the trade deadline Oct. 31, vested veterans are not yet subject to waivers. King, 28, will head back into free agency.
OCTOBER 17: After joining the Steelers in August, it sounds like Desmond King won’t be sticking in Pittsburgh much longer. NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero reports that the Steelers plan to move on from the veteran cornerback.
The Steelers are hoping to find a trade partner for King, but Pelissero notes that the team will simply release the veteran if they can’t find a suitor.
After getting cut by the Texans at the end of the preseason, King quickly caught on with the Steelers. While the veteran was expected to provide some veteran depth to the secondary, he barely saw the field through the first month-plus. King has been limited to only three games this season, with only one of his 16 snaps coming on defense.
While the Steelers’ secondary has struggled this year, King clearly had a tough time climbing the depth chart. Chandon Sullivan emerged as the team’s primary nickelback opposite starters Patrick Peterson and Levi Wallace, with rookie second-round pick Joey Porter Jr. soaking up the remaining snaps at the position.
King, a former fifth-round pick, served as mostly a slot corner during his time with the Chargers, but he established himself as a starter on the outside during his two-year stint with the Texans. Between 2021 and 2022, King collected 182 tackles and five interceptions in 25 starts (33 total games). With 98 regular season games on his resume, a DB-needy team will surely come calling.
Pittsburgh isn’t just subtracting a cornerback from their roster. Instead, they’re replacing King with cornerback Darius Rush, who the Steelers are expected to sign off the Chiefs practice squad (per Pelissero). The rookie fifth-round pick was cut by the Colts at the end of the preseason but the Chiefs were quick to claim him off waivers. Kansas City later removed Rush from the active roster and signed him to the practice squad, a move that helped the Steelers to swoop in and snag him.
What kind of trade can they realistically be expecting given they let him play 1 snap on defense?
Probably as a piece where the real swap is an exchange of lower level picks.
King at one point some time ago (probably about when he signed with Houston) was the best nickel corner in the league, and a good returner to boot. It wouldn’t be surprising to see some team take a chance on that if they feel that they get some type of exchange alongside it.
King and a 7th for a 6th is likely the best they could do. Probably trying to take advantage of some teams whose CB depth has taken a hit.
Agreed.
“Straight up 4sum new shoulder pads” … his agent is framing lack of playing time as “he’s fresh”
Bring him home to Detroit! We need some depth
Agreed!
Jets
The Ravens have a Queen, perhaps they’d be interested in a King.
Cut by 2tms in 2 months n nvr sees field. He had2 of been getn lit up like volcano @prac. There’s always Saskatchewan. Does he speak Canadian ?
King was pretty good at Iowa, but he never really developed as a pro
I certainly wouldn’t say that. King was a great player a few years ago, without any doubt. Now, not so much, but this conversation looked much different in 2020 than it does today.