Fresh off a Week 1 win against the Jets, the Steelers are signing veteran safety Jabrill Peppers, per NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport and Mike Garafolo.
Starters DeShon Elliott (knee) and Joey Porter Jr. (hamstring) both left Sunday’s game, further depleting Pittsburgh’s already-thin secondary. The Steelers elected to carry just eight defensive backs on their initial 53-man roster – four cornerbacks and four safeties – leaving them especially vulnerable to injuries. Elliott has been diagnosed with an MCL sprain and is expected to miss a few weeks, according to FOX Sports’ Jordan Schultz.
Enter Peppers, an eight-year veteran with 85 starts under his belt (though only 31 have come in the last five years). The Patriots released him during final roster cuts as they transitioned to more traditional deep safeties, but Peppers’ downhill play style and box/slot versatility could allow him to step into Elliott’s role right away. (On Sunday, the Steelers inserted former Raven and Jet Chuck Clark when Elliott went down.)
Elliott’s injury does not appear to be long-term, but even when he returns, Peppers will be important depth after the Steelers traded Minkah Fitzpatrick back to the Dolphins earlier this year. Other than starting free safety Juan Thornhill, the only other safety on the Steelers’ roster is special teams ace Miles Killebrew, who has only played 177 defensive snaps over his previous four years in Pittsburgh.
It doesn’t seem like Elliott will land on IR with the Steelers targeting a Week 4 return, per Schultz. If Peppers is being added to the 53-man roster – which seems more likely than the practice squad given his pedigree – Pittsburgh will need to make another roster move to open up a spot.
Guessing Elliott will be out for at least 6 weeks. Really like this signing.
Early report says he got lucky and they’re thinking 2-3 weeks. Regardless, signing Peppers is a wise move.
Solid move. I already liked the Chuck Clark addition but they still needed more depth even before the Elliott injury.
Bring in Simmons
Steelers are becoming the new felons of the North. I mean, Cincy and Cle barely have them beat now.
Please don’t even try to compare any team to Cleveland
Cleveland takes the cake, Bengals close second, Raiders/Chiefs/Steelers are great honorable mentions
Found this list interesting… arrests since 2000.
Minnesota Vikings: 57 arrests
Denver Broncos: 56 arrests
Cincinnati Bengals: 51 arrests
Jacksonville Jaguars: 41 arrests
Kansas City Chiefs: 41 arrests
Cleveland Browns: 40 arrests
Tennessee Titans: 39 arrests
Tampa Bay Buccaneers: 38 arrests
Indianapolis Colts: 37 arrests
Seattle Seahawks & Chicago Bears: 36 arrests
Vikings truly does surprise me. Curious though if this is arrests while being on the team or just total arrests, because the Browns players might not commit the most when on the roster but they are not shy at all about giving some POS a second chance (and 200M guaranteed). It feels like 40 of their current 53 have a rap sheet lol.
Curious as well, just found it interesting based on your topic.
Aldon Smith use to get arrested on a monthly basis…how can the Raiders not make that list…lol.
Because several of his arrests came while he was a 49er
How many of the Vikings arrests came from that one boat trip in 2005?
Now if they can only find someone to stop opposing running backs
That was horrific to watch, but for now I’d bet on that being a bit of an anomaly. The Jets had a fantastic game plan against us and for most of the game they executed it flawlessly. That being said, they have to find someone to clog up the middle. Benton should be at end, not nose tackle. Maybe Yahya Black? Daniel Ekuale?
Yeah, but let’s go back to last season
The Jets game looked like more of the same
Agreed. Let’s hope Harmon and Black are the answer