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DeShon Elliott

Minor NFL Transactions: 10/31/25

October 31st, 2025 at 8:26pm CST by Adam La Rose

Here are Friday’s only minor moves:

Cincinnati Bengals

Jacksonville Jaguars

Pittsburgh Steelers

With replacement starting quarterback Joe Flacco still questionable to play this weekend as he deals with an AC joint sprain in his throwing shoulder, Clifford makes his way to the active roster to serve as the team’s third, emergency passer behind Flacco and backup Jake Browning.

Steelers To Acquire S Kyle Dugger From Pats

October 28th, 2025 at 11:20pm CST by Connor Byrne

The Steelers saw starting safety DeShon Elliott go down with a knee injury in a Week 8 loss to the Packers. They’re acting quickly to address the position. Pittsburgh will acquire safety Kyle Dugger and a 2026 seventh-round pick from New England for a 2026 sixth-rounder, Tom Pelissero of NFL Network reports.

This is the second trade of Tuesday for the Patriots, who previously sent defensive end Keion White and a seventh-rounder to the 49ers for a sixth-rounder.

At 5-2 and atop the AFC East, the Patriots aren’t in position to sell leading up to the Nov. 4 trade deadline. However, both Dugger and White fell out of favor this year under new head coach Mike Vrabel.

A second-round pick of the Bill Belichick regime in 2020, Dugger quickly emerged as a key cog in the Patriots’ defense. He started between 13 and 17 games in each season from 2021-24 and racked up nine interceptions during that span.

The Patriots handed Dugger a four-year, $58MM extension with $32.5MM in guarantees in April 2024, locking him up through 2027. Despite that expensive commitment, Dugger emerged as a trade candidate late last summer when it became clear he was no longer a clean fit in the Patriots’ defense.

The Patriots held on to Dugger for the first couple months of the season, but he experienced a significant dip in playing time during the team’s hot start. Before the trade, Dugger saw action in a meager 38.4% of defensive snaps while working behind starting safeties Craig Woodson and Jaylinn Hawkins. Pro Football Focus ranks Dugger’s 2025 performance 62nd among 88 qualifying safeties. With Dugger gone, Dell Pettus and Brenden Schooler are now the Patriots’ main reserves at safety.

The 29-year-old Dugger will now have a chance at a larger role with another division leader in Pittsburgh, which will place Elliott on IR, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com. Elliott will miss at least four games, which left the Steelers in the market for immediate help at safety. Pittsburgh will face four straight postseason contenders – the Colts, Chargers, Bengals, and Bears – with Elliott on the shelf.

The 4-3 Steelers have dropped two games in a row, largely as a result of an inability to stop the pass. Quarterbacks Joe Flacco (Bengals) and Jordan Love (Packers) combined to shred the Steelers for 702 yards, six touchdowns, and no interceptions over the past two weeks. Typically known for boasting a vaunted defense, the Steelers rank dead last in the league in passing yards per game allowed (273.3).

Dugger will now join a Steelers safety group consisting of Juan Thornhill, Chuck Clark, and former Patriots teammate Jabrill Peppers. He and Peppers often started next to each other in New England from 2022-24. Peppers has taken on a reserve role in his first season in Pittsburgh, but Dugger could regain a starting job now that he’s headed to the Steel City.

Latest On DeShon Elliott; Steelers Work Out Vonn Bell, Eddie Jackson

October 28th, 2025 at 5:37pm CST by Connor Byrne

While a report on Monday indicated that injured Steelers safety DeShon Elliott could miss the rest of the season, that may not be the case. Head coach Mike Tomlin said Tuesday that Elliott is “week-to-week,” adding that the team hasn’t discussed whether he’ll go on injured reserve (via Brooke Pryor of ESPN.com).

While Elliott suffered a knee injury in a 35-25 loss to the Packers in Week 8, his ACL is reportedly intact. It does seem that the 28-year-old starter will miss time, though, and an IR placement would force a four-game absence.

The Steelers have dropped to 4-3 after losing two straight, but they’re still atop the AFC North. Over the next four weeks, they’ll face three AFC playoff hopefuls – the Colts, Chargers, and Bengals – before a meeting with the Bears.

Although the rival Bengals are a subpar 3-5, that’s good enough for second in the division. They defeated the Steelers in the teams’ first matchup in Week 7. Elliott led the Steelers with nine tackles in that game, but Bengals quarterback Joe Flacco went off for 342 yards and three touchdowns in a 33-31 shootout. The Steelers’ defense had a similarly rough time last Sunday against Green Bay QB Jordan Love, who completed 29 of 37 passes for 360 yards and three scores.

Thanks to Elliott’s injury, Pittsburgh’s struggling defense is down to Juan Thornhill, Chuck Clark, and Jabrill Peppers as its top options at safety. Looking to bolster their depth, the Steelers worked out free agents Vonn Bell and Eddie Jackson on Tuesday, according to Pryor.

A second-round pick of the Saints in 2016, Bell has spent a large portion of his career with the Bengals. In his second stint with Cincinnati last year, Bell played in all 17 of the team’s games, made 11 starts, and added 55 tackles and an interception. The 30-year-old has 117 starts on his resume, but he has gone without a deal since last season ended.

The Steelers are also familiar with Jackson, who played nine games with the division rival Ravens in 2024. They waived Jackson in late November, and he went on to appear in two games with the Chargers after they signed him to their practice squad.

Now 31, Jackson enjoyed plenty of success earlier in his career with the Bears after they used a fourth-round pick on him in 2017. Jackson stayed in Chicago through 2023, starting in all 100 of his games with the team, intercepting 15 passes, and earning two Pro Bowl nods. Like Bell, Jackson has gone unsigned since the end of last season.

Steelers’ DeShon Elliott Unlikely To Return This Season

October 27th, 2025 at 9:17pm CST by Connor Byrne

The Steelers lost defensive lineman Daniel Ekuale to a season-ending ACL tear in a 35-25 defeat against the Packers on Sunday. Safety DeShon Elliott, who also suffered a knee injury in Week 8, could join Ekuale on the shelf for the rest of the season. While Elliott’s ACL is intact, he’s unlikely to return this year, Jeremy Fowler of ESPN.com reports.

Elliott missed two games in September with a knee injury, but the 28-year-old has otherwise started in all five appearances this season. A former Raven, Lion, and Dolphin, Elliott has amassed 69 starts in 77 games since entering the NFL in 2019.

After joining the Steelers on a two-year, $6MM contract in 2024, Elliott totaled a career-high 108 tackles with six passes defensed, three fumble recoveries, two forced fumbles, and an interception over 15 games (14 starts). The Steelers were impressed enough to award Elliott a two-year, $12.5MM extension with $9.21MM in guarantees last June.

Elliott was off to a productive start this season before exiting on a cart in the second half on Sunday. He has picked up 38 tackles, two passes defensed, a forced fumble, and an interception. Pro Football Focus ranks Elliott 25th among 88 qualifying safeties this year. Unfortunately for Elliott and the Steelers, it doesn’t appear he’ll be able to add to those numbers during the final 10 games of the season.

The Steelers are still atop the AFC North, but they’re an unspectacular 4-3 after dropping two straight games. Bengals quarterback Joe Flacco and Packers QB Jordan Love torched the Steelers in those contests. They combined to complete 60 of 84 passes (71%) for 702 yards, six touchdowns, and no interceptions.

Before a rematch with the second-place Bengals (3-5) in Week 11, Pittsburgh will face two other AFC contenders in the 7-1 Colts and the 5-3 Chargers. Losing Elliott heading into those matchups is an unwelcome development, but it appears the Steelers will have to proceed with Juan Thornhill, Chuck Clark, and Jabrill Peppers as their top safety options.

NFL DB Injury Updates: Seahawks, Steelers, Gonzalez, Bland, Johnson

September 12th, 2025 at 4:21pm CST by Nikhil Mehta

Seahawks are nursing a banged-up secondary heading into Week 2 and will likely be without starting cornerback Devon Witherspoon and first-round safety Nick Emmanwori.

Witherspoon played every snap in Week 1 but didn’t practice this week due to a knee injury. He’s listed as doubtful on Seattle’s injury report and seems very unlikely to take the field. The injury is not thought to be serious, said head coach Mike Macdonald (via Michael Shawn-Dugar of The Athletic).

Emmanwori only played four snaps in his NFL debut before going down with a high ankle sprain. He didn’t participate this week, either, and was ruled out for Sunday’s game. Macdonald added that Emmanwori will avoid injured reserve for right now after mentioning the possibility earlier in the week, per Shawn-Dugar.

Witherspoon’s absence this weekend will force another Seahawks defender to step up in the slot, a decision that will be further complicated with Emmanwori sidelined. He could have been another option at nickel or lined up at safety with Julian Love in the slot; instead, Seattle will have to flip an outside cornerback into the slot or put inexperienced third-year safety Ty Okada on the field.

Here are some other secondary injury updates from around the NFL:

Steelers To Sign S Jabrill Peppers

September 9th, 2025 at 9:43am CST by Nikhil Mehta

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.

Secondary 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.

Steelers, S DeShon Elliott Agree To Extension

June 16th, 2025 at 10:33pm CST by Ben Levine

Following one of the most productive seasons of his career, DeShon Elliott is sticking in Pittsburgh for the next few years. The safety has agreed to a two-year, $12.5MM extension with the Steelers, according to NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero. The deal includes $9.21MM in guaranteed money.

Elliott inked a two-year, $6MM deal with the organization last offseason. He’ll now be under contract through the 2027 season, and Pittsburgh will now owe him $15.5MM over the next three years.

The free agent acquisition quickly leaped Damontae Kazee on the depth chart last preseason, earning the starting strong safety role opposite Minkah Fitzpatrick. Elliott proceeded to start 14 of his 15 appearances in 2024, finishing with a career-high 108 tackles to go along with one interception, a pair of forced fumbles, and six passes defended. For his efforts, Pro Football Focus ranked him 27th among 98 qualifying safeties.

A former sixth-round pick, Elliott was limited to six games through his first two years in the NFL. He emerged as a starter with the Ravens in 2020 and 2021, but his injury woes continued. When his stint in Baltimore came to an end, he bounced between the Lions and Dolphins, although he served as a starter in both spots.

The Steelers have seemingly saved the safety from journeyman status, as Elliott should stick with the organization for the next few years. Fitzpatrick is still on his near-position-leading contract through 2026, providing the organization with some continuity at the top of their safeties corps.

Kazee is no longer in the picture, so the team will be relying on some new-look depth in 2025. This grouping includes free agent acquisition Juan Thornhill and Miles Killebrew, a veteran special teamer who got into nine defensive snaps with Pittsburgh in 2024.

Steelers, S DeShon Elliott Agree To Deal

March 14th, 2024 at 11:56am CST by Adam La Rose

The Steelers continue to bring in new faces on defense. Pittsburgh has agreed to a two-year, $6MM deal with safety DeShon Elliott, Bleacher Report’s Jordan Schultz reports.

Elliott entered the league with Baltimore in 2018, establishing himself as a starter during the final two seasons of his rookie contract. After one-year stints in Detroit and Miami, the 26-year-old will now join linebacker Patrick Queen as an ex-Raven making the move to Pittsburgh. Elliott played on one-year accords with the Lions and Dolphins, so this pact will offer slightly more security.

Injuries marred much of Elliott’s Ravens tenure, but he has managed to remain relatively healthy over the past two seasons. The Texas alum played 14 games in 2022, followed by 15 last season. Across that span, he recorded a pair of interceptions and 10 pass deflections while starting all but two games. Known best for his physicality, Elliott has made 178 tackles over the past two years (and 287 total in 57 contests), and he will look to remain productive in that area with Pittsburgh.

The Steelers have Minkah Fitzpatrick in place as a locked-in safety starter. Keanu Neal saw significant playing time last year, but he was released one week ago. With fellow veteran Damontae Kazee under contract for only one more year, the position was one in need of an addition either via free agency or the draft this offseason. Elliott will at least be able to provide experienced depth while playing in three-safety looks, or he could beat out Kazee for a starting role ahead of the 2024 campaign.

Pittsburgh ranked 17th against the pass last season, and while Elliott has not drawn stellar PFF reviews in coverage, he has remained consistent in that regard during his career. The former sixth-rounder earned an overall rating of 72.6 last season, the highest mark of his career. Replicating that success would be a welcomed development for the Steelers as they continue to re-shape areas of their defense.

NFL Injury Rumors: Holland, Dillon, Pacheco, Miller, Elam

December 15th, 2023 at 10:11pm CST by Ely Allen

Injuries aren’t anything to keep Dolphins safety Jevon Holland down for long. The third-year starter has missed three games this season (the most he’s missed in his short carer) while dealing with reported knee injuries. According to an interview Holland did with Adam Beasley of Pro Football Network, the Dolphins defender has been dealing with two MCL sprains.

A single MCL sprain is enough to force many players to sit out multiple games, as those knee ligament injuries are not meant to be dealt with lightly. Regardless, Holland wants to be through with missing time, telling Beasley that “he’s optimistic about playing this week.” With the team’s other starting safety DeShon Elliott out this week after suffering a concussion in Miami’s surprising loss to the Titans on Monday, the defense would be glad to return Holland to the field.

Here are a few other injury rumors from around the NFL:

  • Packers running back A.J. Dillon has already been asked to step into a starting role with Aaron Jones out for the past three weeks. Green Bay may be down another rusher as Dillon reportedly suffered a broken thumb in the team’s loss to the Giants on Monday night, per ESPN’s Rob Demovsky. Like Holland, Dillon isn’t one to miss time with an injury. The only games he’s missed in his career were due to COVID-19 during his rookie year. That being said, he’s never played with a broken thumb. He’s listed as questionable heading into the weekend, but Dillon is trying to figure out if he can play through the injury. The biggest issue comes with the fact that opposing teams will know of the injury and attempts to punch out fumbles could lead to further harm.
  • Isiah Pacheco has only missed one game since taking over as the Chiefs‘ starting running back in Week 2, sitting out for last week’s loss to the Bills. According to Ian Rapoport of NFL Network, head coach Andy Reid reported that Pacheco underwent “a clean up procedure on his shoulder” that will force him to miss this weekend’s matchup with the Patriots, as well. Reid expects that Pacheco should be able to return after that.
  • Yet another running back, Saints rookie rusher Kendre Miller has missed the team’s past four games with an ankle injury and is scheduled to miss a fifth straight game this weekend. NewOrleans.Football’s Nick Underhill believes that we haven’t seen the last of Miller this season. While the TCU-product may not be back immediately after this week’s game, Underhill thinks a Week 17 appearance in Tampa Bay could be in the cards for the 21-year-old.
  • Lastly, it’s safe to say that we haven’t seen the best from Bills second-year cornerback Kaiir Elam in his sophomore season. 2023 has been an injury-riddled year for the Florida-product as he’s only made an appearance in three games this year, the most recent of which only saw him on special teams. According to Ryan O’Halloran of The Buffalo News, Elam reportedly tore an ankle ligament prior to the start of the regular season. While he did sit out the team’s first four contests, Elam’s Week 5 return apparently saw him attempting to play through the injury without it being healed due to injuries to Tre’Davious White and Christian Benford in the team’s Week 4 win over the Dolphins. The injury would eventually push him onto injured reserve at the start of November. He’s since been designated to return from IR. If he isn’t able to return by shortly after Christmas, Elam will remain on IR for the rest of the year.

Dolphins Name Mike White Backup QB; DeShon Elliott To Start At S

September 5th, 2023 at 11:14am CST by Adam La Rose

When Mike White was signed to a two-year deal including $4.5MM in guaranteed money, it seemed inevitable he would start the season as the Dolphins’ backup quarterback. After a noteworthy training camp competition, the veteran has indeed landed the QB2 gig.

Head coach Mike McDaniel indicated (via Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald) that White won out the backup spot over 2022 seventh-rounder Skylar Thompson. The latter had impressed during training camp to the point where he was believed to have a lead on White at one point. In the end, though, Miami has elected to go with the more experienced option, one who acquired with a larger financial investment than the team expected to make with respect to Tua Tagovailoa insurance policies.

The former No. 5 pick’s injury history has made the backup and third-string QB spots ones worth plenty of attention as his long-term future with the team remains uncertain. White, who took over from Zach Wilson as the Jets’ starter last season and dealt with a rib injury through much of the campaign, did enough to convince the Dolphins to let Teddy Bridgewater depart in free agency. Thompson started Miami’s playoff loss to the Bills in his rookie season, though, and he did enough in the summer to maintain a roster spot.

“This was a difficult one,” McDaniel said of the decision, via Adam Beasley of Pro Football Network. “We learned the hard way that you need available players on a roster just in general, and I thought Mike White and Skylar competed all the way until the last rep. And when it really came down to it, I thought they both made just cases.”

McDaniel added that White’s experience helped him edge out the gig over Thompson, who will be eligible to dress as the team’s emergency third QB this season without counting toward the gameday roster. Both passers put up less-than-stellar numbers in the preseason, though, so changes to the pecking order could take place as the campaign progresses.

In other Dolphins lineup news, safety DeShon Elliott will begin the campaign as a starter, Jackson notes. The 26-year-old has started 35 of his 42 career games, split between the Ravens and Lions. Elliott has battled numerous injuries in his career, something which limited his market in free agency. Attached to a one-year, $1.77MM Dolphins pact, the former sixth-rounder will see time alongside Jevon Holland on the backend of a Miami defense expected to take a step forward in 2023. Play in the secondary will go a long way in determining the unit’s success, and Elliott could earn himself a more lucrative deal next offseason with a healthy and productive season.

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