Steelers Now
The Pittsburgh Steelers worked out former Baltimore Ravens safety Marcus Williams before signing Chuck Clark on Friday, according to the NFL transactions wire. Clark and Williams were a part of the same workout.
Williams is a player to keep an eye on if Clark does not pan out or if there’s a rash of injuries at the position.
Williams played with the Ravens from 2022 to 2024, signing a five-year, $70 million contract, but he failed to live up to the contract. Williams played his first five seasons in the NFL with the New Orleans Saints.
Over his career, Williams has played in 108 career games and has 20 interceptions and 56 passes defended.
Clark, 30, played the last two seasons with the New York Jets. He suffered an ACL tear during the offseason in 2023, which ended his season. Last year, he started 12 games for the Jets, recording two pass deflections, one forced fumble, one fumble recovery, one sack, and 69 combined tackles. On Dec. 31, Clark was placed on injured reserve with a torn pectoral muscle, ending his season.
Clark was selected by the Baltimore Ravens in the sixth-round of the 2017 NFL Draft out of Virginia Tech. He played six seasons in Baltimore before joining the Jets in 2023. While in Baltimore, he was teammates with Patrick Queen and DeShon Elliott. So Clark has familiarity with playing with Elliott on the backend.
The Steelers had to part ways with three-time All-Pro safety Minkah Fitzpatrick to acquire Jalen Ramsey from the Miami Dolphins. But ESPN insider Jeremy Fowler revealed the Steelers were willing to do that because they think Ramsey is even more of a special player.
“This is a case-by-case situation where a player like Jalen Ramsey just happened to be available where they feel like he gives them more flexibility than what they had with Minkah Fitzpatrick,” Fowler said on ESPN’s Get Up. “He can play slot cornerback. He can play safety, if you need him to do that. They see shades of Rod Woodson.”
Ramsey was used in multiple spots on the first day of practice.
Ramsey spent time at safety, slot corner, and outside corner. Most notably, Steelers Now reported he is the starting safety in the base defense. He was also the slot corner in the nickel package.
In addition to Ramsey and Clark, the Steelers Juan Thornhilll, Miles Killebrew, Sebastian Castro and Quandell Johnson as options to replace Fitzpatrick at free safety.
In his career, Clark has recorded 453 tackles (175 solo), 4.5 sacks, five interceptions, nine tackles for loss, nine quarterback hits, six forced fumbles, five fumble recoveries and 34 passes defended.
Clark has played in 108 career games, starting 75. His best season was in 2021, when he recorded 80 tackles, two interceptions, 12 passes defended and three tackles for loss. In 2022, he recorded 101 tackles, four passes defended, one forced fumble and one fumble recovery.
Alan Saunders and Brendan Howe provided reporting from St. Vincent College.
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