Speculation continues as the Dolphins work to trade veteran cornerback Jalen Ramsey. In an appearance on The Pat McAfee Show, Ian Rapoport of NFL Network claimed that he doesn’t believe Pittsburgh is a trade destination for the three-time All-Pro. 
Since 2022, the Steelers secondary has been uncharacteristically average, while last year saw them become even less characteristically porous, as they finished the season having given up the eighth-most passing yards in the NFL. Safeties Minkah Fitzpatrick and DeShon Elliott are reliable veterans in the defensive backfield, but the team’s cornerbacks had a disappointing showing in 2024.
The Steelers exchanged veterans in free agency, watching Donte Jackson walk while signing Darius Slay to a one-year, $10MM deal. Slay instantly becomes the best cornerback on the roster, though at 34 years old, there’s always a chance that this is the year his effectiveness begins to dip. Slay should start across from Joey Porter Jr., who saw a bit of decline in his sophomore campaign. Porter allowed completions on nearly 63 percent of the passes in which he was the primary defender, and Pro Football Focus (subscription required) graded him as the 99th-best cornerback in the league out of 116 graded players.
The next two cornerbacks on the depth chart are James Pierre and Cory Trice, who both graded out better than Porter in 2024, but neither player played in more that 16 percent of the team’s defensive snaps last year. While Beanie Bishop and Cameron Sutton are also available, they play almost exclusively in the slot for Pittsburgh. Plus, PFF wasn’t too kind to them either.
With this all in mind, it would make perfect sense for the Steelers to inquire about acquiring Ramsey, like they did with Fitzpatrick six years ago. But Rapoport made it clear to McAfee and company that that’s not a likely scenario. Instead, he continues to push the narrative that a return to the Rams makes “the most sense” for Ramsey. Rapoport posits that the money involved in this deal is the thing that has consistently been keeping it from getting done.
Pittsburgh, though, will move forward with its current group. The team will hope to see developed improvement from young impact players like Porter and Bishop, while also hoping that this year’s veteran, Slay, can help foster more success in the position room.
Pittsburgh is going to need all the draft assets they can muster in an attempt to possible land a franchise QB in next year’s draft. If they wanted a good CB, they could have got Jaire Alexander for little $ and no compensation. Injury history or not, that was a big miss on their part, and a potentially big gain for the best team in Pittsburgh’s division. Costs almost nothing against the cap, so of he doesn’t pan out, there isn’t any real loss. If he hits, though, he not only would help the team this season, at a place they are very weak, but he signs a big FA contract with another team the following season, and you can possibly get a good compensation draft choice.
Pitt should sign Gilmore as insurance. Didn’t realize Porter had such a bad year, having Gilmore to push Porter and as injury insurance for Slay wouldn’t be a bad thing.
Yes, Porter was awful last year. He, also, lead the league in pass interference penalties. People keep thinking he’s good because he was drafted high, but I don’t know how you could watch the Steelers and not see he was terrible. Sorry, not trying to be negative, but the facts, even from PFF, back that up.