Steelers Now
Free agent cornerback Asante Samuel, who was recently cleared to return to action after neck surgery this offseason, will take a free agent visit with the Pittsburgh Steelers next week.
According to a report by Jeremy Fowler of ESPN, Samuel will visit with the Steelers next Wednesday to close a whirlwind free agent tour. He is in Carolina visiting the Panthers on Wednesday, and will follow that up with trips to see the Green Bay Packers, Minnesota Vikings, San Francisco 49ers and Chicago Bears before coming to Pittsburgh to close his weeklong expedition.
An initial report by Jordan Schultz of FOX contained only the first week of upcoming visit.
In a way, that will be a full circle moment, as Steelers team neurosurgeon Dr. David Okonkwo is the one that performed the surgery on Samuel and cleared him to return to action.
Samuel had neck surgery in April. The 26-year-old was injured while playing for the Los Angeles Charges in October. The injury was initially characterized as a shoulder issue, but subsequently caused Samuel to need surgery on his neck.
The 5-foot-10, 180-pound cornerback, the son of two-time New England Patriots Super Bowl champion cornerback Asante Samuel Sr., was a second-round pick for the Chargers in the 2021 NFL Draft out of Florida State.
Despite his slight stature, Samuel became a starter as a rookie at outside cornerback for the Chargers, and remained in that role until his injury last season. While he was injured, his contract with the Chargers expired and Samuel became an unrestricted free agent. The Chargers mostly utilized him as an outside cornerback, but teams could be looking at him in the slot, as well.
One area of his game that may not be helped by a move to the slot is his consistently poor tackling. Samuel has a career missed tackle rate of 16.7%, per Pro Football Focus, and a neck injury will probably not improve his tackling technique.
The Steelers have struggled in the secondary despite bringing in three new starters this offseason, with veterans Darius Slay and Juan Thornhill underperforming so far this season. Thornhill was benched last week against the Indianapolis Colts, with the Steelers moving Jalen Ramsey to safety, and Slay has had yielded playing time in recent weeks to Brandin Echols.
This article originally appeared on Steelers Now: Steelers Schedule Visit with Free Agent Cornerback
