Juan Thornhill

Jags Sign S Juan Thornhill To Practice Squad

November 17th, 2025 at 1:20pm CST by Adam La Rose

Juan Thornhill‘s time with the Steelers came to an end one week ago. After being cut by Pittsburgh, the veteran safety cleared waivers and became a free agent.

In short order, a deal has been lined up in this case. Thornhill signed with the Jaguars on Monday, per a team announcement. To little surprise, this is a practice squad arrangement. It will be interesting to see how quickly Thornhill sees game time with his new team.

The seventh-year veteran severed as a full-time starter through much of his career prior to 2025. Thornhill was a first-team regular in Kansas City while playing out his rookie contract and again in Cleveland for two seasons after doing so. In Pittsburgh, however, things did not go as planned. The 30-year-old logged a defensive snap share of 49%, the lowest of his career.

The Steelers lost DeShon Elliott to a knee injury, something which brought about shuffling at the safety position. Pittsburgh swung a trade for Kyle Dugger shortly before moving on from Thornhill. Dugger and Jalen Ramsey have since operated as a safety tandem for the AFC North leaders.

The Jaguars secured a blowout win on Sunday, improving their record to 6-4. Thornhill will look to carve out a role on a team which moved on from another veteran defensive back in Darnell Savage in September. Andrew Wingard and Eric Murray have operated as safety starters in 2025 for Jacksonville, and that setup is likely to continue. Thornhill will look to serve as a backup capable of chipping in on special teams.

Jacksonville entered Monday with $8.75MM in cap space. This Thornhill signing will no doubt check in well short of the $7MM AAV he secured with his second contract and the $3MM he signed for with the Steelers this offseason. Nevertheless, he could prove to be a valuable low-cost addition down the stretch.

Steelers Cut S Juan Thornhill

November 10th, 2025 at 7:49pm CST by Connor Byrne

Continuing to make noteworthy changes at the safety position, the Steelers have cut Juan Thornhill, according to Ian Rapoport and Mike Garafolo of NFL.com. Thornhill will go through waivers. If no team claims him, he’ll become a free agent.

The Steelers have shaken things up at safety since starter DeShon Elliott suffered a serious knee injury in Week 8. Elliott is now on IR.

Shortly after losing Elliott, the Steelers acquired Kyle Dugger from the Patriots on Oct. 28. Dugger has since stepped into a starting role next to longtime cornerback Jalen Ramsey, who transitioned to free safety during a Week 9 win over the Colts.

With Dugger and Ramsey taking over at safety, Thornhill worked exclusively on special teams against Indianapolis and in Pittsburgh’s loss to the Chargers on Sunday. The 30-year-old started in one of nine games, logged a 48.5% snap share on defense, and totaled 38 tackles this season before the Steelers moved on from him.

After coming off the board in the second round of the 2019 draft, Thornhill divided his first six NFL seasons between Kansas City and Cleveland. He served as a full-time starter on two of the Chiefs’ Super Bowl-winning teams before spending two years with the Browns.

The Browns released Thornhill last offseason, leading him to the Steelers on a one-year, $3MM deal. Although his union with the Steelers didn’t work out, Thornhill – who has 75 career starts and eight interceptions – could be attractive to safety-needy clubs down the stretch. If a team claims him, it would take on the remainder of his league-minimum base salary.

With Thornhill on his way out, the Steelers claimed safety Sebastian Castro off waivers from the Buccaneers on Monday, Brooke Pryor of ESPN.com relays. Castro signed with the Steelers as an undrafted rookie from Iowa in late April, but the Buccaneers plucked him off their practice squad on Sept. 30. He appeared in one game with the Bucs and totaled six snaps (all on special teams). Castro will join Chuck Clark and Jabrill Peppers among the Steelers’ depth options at safety.

Jalen Ramsey Could See Hybrid Role In Pittsburgh

June 30th, 2025 at 9:08pm CST by Ely Allen

In the aftermath of today’s headlining trade, many questions arose concerning the ramifications of the roster changes. Namely, a big one of these questions was centered around the idea of, now that the Steelers have brought in some cornerback help, how do they address the new hole at safety? The answer to that question could come in a couple different forms.

The simplest answer is the most obvious one: next man up. Earlier in the offseason, Pittsburgh signed Juan Thornhill to serve in a third safety role behind Minkah Fitzpatrick and DeShon Elliott. It was a role that Damontae Kazee filled in 2024, but Kazee was not re-signed after his contract expired. The team could just count on Thornhill, who has started 74 of 87 game appearances in his six-year career, to step up next to Elliott, but Pittsburgh may have other ideas.

Jalen Ramsey has been an outstanding outside cornerback throughout his professional career, playing about 80 percent of his NFL snaps at the position, but he’s excelled elsewhere in the past. As one of the top recruits in Florida State’s 2013 signing class, Ramsey played a big role for a true freshman as one of the school’s two starting safeties. The following year Ramsey led the Seminoles defense with most of his snaps coming in the slot. In his final collegiate season, Ramsey played most of his defensive snaps at outside cornerback.

He stayed at outside corner for most of his NFL career, starting in Jacksonville. After a move to Los Angeles, the Rams decided to start giving him some more work in the slot in his sixth NFL season. In the slot, his coverage abilities allowed him to stay with receivers on the inside, but his size allowed him to cover tight ends and stop the run. His versatile usage in college prepared him perfectly for that role, and it resulted in All-Pro honors and a Super Bowl.

ESPN’s Ben Solak speculates that a full-time move to “safety might maximize Ramsey’s remaining athleticism and football intelligence.” Mark Kaboly from The Pat McAfee Show speculates that the Steelers may see more value in Ramsey’s versatility and use him in a hybrid role that sees him playing at outside corner, nickelback, and safety. NFL Insider Josina Anderson went even further, asserting that, barring the future addition of another a true free safety, Pittsburgh could field a base defense with three cornerbacks and one safety on the field.

Where most teams’ base defense would feature two of each position with an additional cornerback coming onto the field in packages that require more defensive backs, Anderson believes that the Steelers could field a secondary with Darius Slay and Joey Porter Jr. at cornerback, Elliott at strong safety, and Ramsey at free, until they need to run with five in the secondary, in which case Ramsey would shift up into the nickel or outside cornerback role, allowing Thornhill to come in at safety. Or, perhaps, Ramsey stays at safety, and the fifth defensive back is last year’s primary nickelback, Beanie Bishop.

There are many possible solutions to this equation. Adding Ramsey and tight end Jonnu Smith to the roster certainly made the team better, albeit a bit older and more expensive. Pittsburgh has had a busy offseason buying several new (used) toys from Aaron Rodgers to DK Metcalf to Robert Woods to Slay and Ramsey. Now it’s up to the league’s longest-tenured head coach to make sure all his new toys play well together.

Steelers, S Juan Thornhill Agree To Deal

March 17th, 2025 at 6:05pm CST by Adam La Rose

Juan Thornhill will remain in the AFC North for 2025. The former Browns safety has agreed to a one-year deal with the Steelers, Ian Rapoport and Mike Garafolo of NFL Network report.

Thornhill recently visited the 49ers, as noted by Fox Sports’ Jordan Schultz. Instead of taking a deal with San Francisco, though, the 29-year-old has elected to join a more familiar team. After a four-year run in Kansas City, he landed a three-year Browns pact in free agency.

He ended up completing two of those three seasons, with the defensive back starting 11 games in both 2023 and 2024. A calf injury was the culprit in both campaigns, although he managed to return from injury this past season and appear in 10 of Cleveland’s final 11 games. He was getting into about half of the Browns’ defensive snaps down the stretch, and he ultimately finished the campaign with 49 tackles, his lowest total since 2020.

Thornhill was released last month, ending his Cleveland tenure and leaving him free to join a new team prior to the start of the new league year. He found a home with a division foe, as the 29-year-old will now join Pittsburgh’s secondary. Minkah Fitzpatrick and DeShon Elliott soaked up the majority of the snaps in 2024 and will continue to lead the depth chart in 2025. This means Thornhill will be stepping into more of a backup role, and it’s notable that Damontae Kazee, the team’s third safety in 2024, remains unsigned.

Ben Levine contributed to this post.

Browns To Release S Juan Thornhill

February 24th, 2025 at 9:11am CST by Adam La Rose

After a pair of seasons with the Browns, Juan Thornhill is set to be on the move. The veteran safety will be released, Mike Garafolo of NFL Network reports.

As Garafolo notes, team and player discussed the situation in recent days with the decision being made to part ways. Now, Thornhill and his camp will begin searching for suitors. Cleveland.com’s Mary Kay Cabot adds this will be a post-June 1 release.

As a result, the Browns will generate $3.4MM in cap savings and a dead money charge of $2.28MM for 2025. The move cannot be made until the new league year begins, though, and the money it frees up will not be available until June 2 (Cleveland will have his $5.68MM cap charge on the books until that point). One year remained on Thornhill’s pact, with a $2MM option bonus due in August; instead of retaining him and paying out that money as part of the $7MM he was owed, the Browns will look for a safety replacement this offseason.

Thornhill spent his first four seasons with the Chiefs, serving as a key starter during the first and final years of his rookie contract in particular. The former second-rounder earned a Super Bowl ring during his Kansas City tenure before landing a three-year, $21MM deal on the open market. That pact set him up to operate as a full-time starter in Cleveland, although in 2023 and again in ’24 Thornhill was limited to 11 games. After racking up eight interceptions as a Chief, the Virginia product was held without one as a Brown.

The safety spot has not seen the upward movement of many other positions in recent years, something which will hinder Thornhill’s market (especially given his missed time). At the age of 29, though, he could still land a multi-year offer from a team seeking a veteran starter in the defensive backfield. While he will not reach free agency until next month, Thornhill will be able to gauge his market over the coming weeks.

Cleveland has Grant Delpit on the books through 2026, but Thornhill’s departure will create the need for a first-team replacement at the other safety spot. Veteran Rodney McLeod made it clear last spring he viewed the 2024 campaign as his last, so barring a change of heart he will not be in the fold moving forward. The Browns will need to make multiple additions at the position this spring.

Browns Activate RB Nick Chubb, S Juan Thornhill

October 19th, 2024 at 11:51am CST by Ben Levine

The Browns are getting some major reinforcement on both sides of the ball. The team announced that they’ve activated both running back Nick Chubb and safety Juan Thornhill to the active roster.

All signs had been pointing to Chubb returning for Week 7, with the star running back basically confirming his impending activation in an essay earlier this week. Chubb hasn’t seen the field since suffering a major knee injury in Week 2 of last season. After undergoing a pair of procedures over the past year, Chubb naturally landed on the reserve/PUP list for the start of the 2024 campaign. The impending free agent returned to practice earlier this month, and it sounded like the Browns would let the player make the final call regarding a return date.

Ultimately, Chubb settled on Week 7, where he should immediately return to the top of the depth chart. The Browns are hoping the veteran can provide a spark to a struggling offense. Jerome Ford has led the rushing attack for the start of the season, with D’Onta Foreman recently stealing a chunk of carries. Ford’s 5.4 yards-per-carry actually ranks 14th in the NFL, but the team’s overreliance on Deshaun Watson and the passing game has limited the team’s RB production. Perhaps Chubb’s return will have OC Ken Dorsey rethinking his offensive approach.

Thornhill returned to practice earlier this week. The defensive back suffered a calf injury during the season opener that required a stint on injured reserve. The former Chiefs draft pick started all 11 of his appearances during his first season in Cleveland in 2023, finishing with 54 tackles. The Browns’ safety corps have struggled with health this season, but when whole, Thornhill should return to his starting spot alongside Grant Delpit.

Chubb’s activation does not count toward the Browns’ in-season activation total, which now sits at five following today’s Thornhill transaction.

Browns Designate S Juan Thornhill For Return

October 16th, 2024 at 7:28pm CST by Ben Levine

Juan Thornhill could soon provide a spark to the Browns defense. The team announced that they’ve designated the safety for return from injured reserve. The Browns now have 21 days to activate Thornhill to the active roster.

The defensive back started Cleveland’s Week 1 loss, collecting nine tackles while getting into 60 defensive snaps. However, he suffered a calf injury in that game that ultimately landed him on the shelf. Thornhill was first eligible to return from IR this past weekend.

Thornhill inked a three-year deal with the Browns during the 2023 offseason. A calf injury forced him to miss six games during his debut season in Cleveland, but he otherwise managed to start all 11 of his appearances while contributing 54 tackles. The former second-round pick started his career in Kansas City, where he hauled in eight interceptions in 65 games (52 starts). He appeared in nine additional postseason contests, winning two Super Bowl rings along the way (although he was inactive during the team’s 2019 run).

The Browns have been forced to deal with an inconsistent safeties corps in 2024. Rodney McLeod Jr. and Ronnie Hickman both stepped up alongside Grant Delpit during Thornhill’s absence. However, both Delpit and Hickman were inactive for Week 6, forcing the team to turn to D’Anthony Bell.

Browns Place S Juan Thornhill, DT Maurice Hurst II, Others On IR

September 11th, 2024 at 9:14am CST by Sam Robinson

An ugly Week 1 Browns loss has obviously brought more scrutiny on the team’s Deshaun Watson contract, but the former Pro Bowler did not have some key offensive pieces due to 2023 injuries. The Browns received some bad news regarding some other contributors since their loss to the Cowboys as well.

The team placed four players on IR on Wednesday. Safety Juan Thornhill, defensive tackle Maurice Hurst, linebacker Tony Fields and linebacker Mohamoud Diabate are all out for at least four games. Calf and ankle injuries will respectively sideline Thornhill and Hurst.

Thornhill resides as the biggest name here; the ex-Chiefs starter operates as a Browns first-stringer, having signed a three-year, $21MM contract that came with $14MM fully guaranteed. Thornhill has started all 12 games he has played with Cleveland, but injury issues have intervened during the former second-round pick’s career. He missed six games last season, though no IR stint took place, and sustained an ACL tear late in his 2019 rookie campaign. One of last season’s absences also occurred due to the Browns resting starters in Week 18.

This IR placement comes after both Thornhill and fellow starter Grant Delpit played 95% of the Browns’ defensive snaps in Week 1. Bad news emerged in the wake of Cleveland’s loss, and Jim Schwartz‘s high-end defense will need some help. The team is rather well equipped to handle this issue, having re-signed ex-Schwartz Eagles charge Rodney McLeod this offseason.

McLeod, who suffered a season-ending biceps injury last year, re-signed with the Browns this offseason. The 34-year-old safety plans to retire after the season, but the Browns appear to need extensive contributions from the 13th-year vet before that happens. Brought in as a mentor-type who would work as a third safety presence under the ex-Eagles DC, McLeod did start five games last season. He now qualifies as important depth for a team battling recent defensive injuries while trying to withstand offensive absences stemming from long-term rehab timetables.

Hurst is on IR for a third straight season. A biceps tear cost the second-generation NFLer all of the 2022 season, but the Browns signed the defensive tackle last year. The Michigan product played in 13 Browns games as a reserve in 2023, helping the team lead the NFL in pass defense. The seventh-year DT, however, will join Thornhill, Fields and Diabate in missing at least four games.

With the Browns already using two of their injury activations — due to using the allotted two August injury-return slots on O-lineman Michael Dunn and running back Nyheim Hines — the team will probably not be able activate all four players from today’s IR transactions. They are down to six injury activations. While Thornhill profiles as a clear candidate to return, the others might not factor into Cleveland’s 2024 season much.

Signing linebacker Khaleke Hudson off the Saints’ practice squad and signing defensive end Sam Kamara on Tuesday, the Browns have since filled the remaining three roster spots by signing wide receiver David Bell and cornerback Mike Ford from their practice squad. The Browns had waived Bell late last week but circled back to the former third-round pick via a P-squad slot.

AFC North Notes: Browns, Monken, Ravens

June 9th, 2023 at 8:03pm CST by Ely Allen

With Jim Schwartz returning to Cleveland after 28 years, then as a scout, now as defensive coordinator, there are some expected changes to how the Browns‘ defense will get things done. Thanks to Mary Kay Cabot of cleveland.com, we have a bit of insight into just how things might change in the secondary under Schwartz.

At safety, the team exchanged starter John Johnson III with Juan Thornhill while also bringing in veteran Rodney McLeod, as well. Schwartz brings two interesting factors to the safety position: he likes to play three at one time often and he expects versatility. He doesn’t strictly prescribe to free and strong safety assignments but more often tends to focus on sides of the field. Grant Delpit, Thornhill, and McLeod will be interchangeable and will be asked to line up in many areas.

Versatility will be expected of the cornerbacks, as well, as Schwartz has reportedly been crosstraining all of Cleveland’s defensive backs in the slot. This is welcome news for Greg Newsome II, who reportedly wanted to play more to his strengths on the outside this year. He won’t solely work outside, but with Denzel Ward and Martin Emerson also getting work as nickelbacks this summer, Newsome won’t be asked to shoulder the load in the slot alone.

Here are a few more rumors from around the AFC North:

Schwartz is excited to be bringing together two strong pass rushers in Myles Garrett and Za’Darius Smith on the Browns’ defensive line, according to Cabot. After a year in which Jadeveon Clowney failed to mesh with Garrett, Schwartz is excited about the flexibility that Smith brings to the table. For one, he’s already had the experience of working across from talented pass rushers like Danielle Hunter, Preston Smith, Matt Judon, Terrell Suggs, and Elvis Dumervil. Secondly, Smith provides a versatile attack that allows him to rush from either side, as well as from the interior, when needed.
After four years under a huddle-first Greg Roman offense, the Ravens will allow quarterback Lamar Jackson a bit more agency in the offense under new offensive coordinator Todd Monken. According to a report from ESPN’s Jamison Hensley, Jackson will be given more freedom to audible and make adjustments at the line this season. This is not completely foreign to the recently extended quarterback. Baltimore experimented with this type of offense in a Week 2 game last year against the Dolphins as a counter to Miami’s pressure package. In that game, Jackson threw for 318 yards and three touchdowns while adding 119 yards and a touchdown on the ground, as well. The Ravens will hope to see more of that in 2023, as Jackson is presented with more opportunities to truly lead the offense.
We mentioned about two weeks ago that Ravens second-year tackle Daniel Faalele was a candidate to replace former starting left guard Ben Powers, who departed for Denver in free agency in March. Knowing Faalele’s importance in his current role as one of the team’s primary backup tackles, we boiled it down to a battle between Ben Cleveland and John Simpson. A recent report from Hensley, though, claims that head coach John Harbaugh spoke highly of Faalele at the position and refused to rule him out as a potential starter. He praised Simpson’s performance in the position, as well, but it may be time to start considering Faalele as one of the top candidates to start next year.

Browns To Sign S Juan Thornhill

March 15th, 2023 at 5:48pm CST by Ben Levine

The Browns are adding a two-time champion to their secondary. According to NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero (via Twitter), Cleveland is signing safety Juan Thornhill. The defensive back is signing a three-year deal worth $21MM, including $14MM in guaranteed money that will be paid out in the first two years of the contract.

The former second-round pick out of Virginia spent the first four seasons of his career in Kansas City, starting 52 of his 65 games. This included a rookie campaign where he earned PFWA All-Rookie Team honors after starting all 16 games for the Chiefs.

This past season, Thornhill started all 16 of his appearances, missing only one game and finishing the year with 71 tackles, nine passes defended, and three interceptions. The 27-year-old started another three playoff games en route to a Super Bowl championship, compiling another 13 tackles and three passes defended. Pro Football Focus ultimately ranked Thornhill 20th among 88 qualifying safeties, including the 12th-best mark at the position in pass coverage.

Thornhill is headed to Cleveland to fill the starting safety spot vacated by John Johnson, who was released by the Browns at the end of February. The team had been linked to former Bengals safety Jessie Bates at the time but should be perfectly satisfied with nabbing Thornhill instead. Thornhill should slide in right next to starting safety Grant Delpit. The only other safeties currently on the roster are undrafted second-year safeties D’Anthony Bell and Bubba Bolden.

The official loss of Thornhill makes safety a priority for Kansas City. They return free safety Justin Reid, who is signed through the 2024 season, but the only other safety on the roster for the Chiefs is a backup from last year, Bryan Cook, whose only start last year came when Thornhill was inactive.

The Chiefs will likely have to turn to the draft or free agency to fill the hole left by Thornhill. The Browns, on the other hand, have found a reliable starter to place next to Delpit as he continues to develop. It’s a strong move for a team who finished fifth in the league last year in passing yards allowed to upgrade at a position they needed to fill.

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