Steelers Now
PITTSBURGH — Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin acknowledged during his Tuesday press conference that the Steelers are set to sign former New England Patriots safety Jabrill Peppers. He said Peppers can play both safety spots and run-down Nickel, as well as special teams.
“He’s a football player first, positional player second,” Tomlin said.
It was reported by Ian Rapoport and Mike Garafolo of NFL Network on Tuesday morning that the Steelers are expected to sign Peppers.
The signing comes after starting Steelers safety DeShon Elliott suffered a knee injury in the team’s Week 1 win over the New York Jets. Tomlin ruled out Elliott for the Steelers’ Week 2 game against the Seattle Seahawks.
Peppers, 29, was released by the New England Patriots just after the team’s final cut down to 53 players at the end of August. His release came as a surprise, as Peppers had been a starter for the last two seasons with the Patriots, but new head coach Mike Vrabel reportedly wanted a player more suited to playing in space for that spot.
A 5-foot-11, 217-pound Michigan alum, Peppers has mostly made his mark at the NFL playing in the box, where he would be playing if he replaced Elliott.
A first-round pick of the Cleveland Browns in 2017, Peppers spent two seasons as a starter in Cleveland before being sent to the New York Giants as part of the Odell Beckham Jr. trade in 2019. He started three seasons with the Giants, with a torn ACL limiting him to six games in 2021.
A free agent for the first time in 2022, Peppers signed a prove-it deal with the Patriots coming off the injury. He started out as a backup, but eventually became a starter and signed a two-year contract extension in 2023.
That preceded his best statistical season. In 2023, Peppers started 15 games and recorded 78 tackles, five tackles for loss, one sack, two quarterback hits, eight passes defended, two interceptions, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery.
The following year, he signed an even bigger extension — a three-year, $24 million deal that should have kept him in New England through 2026, but he was released after just one season of the new contract.
The Steelers’ safety depth had gotten very thin after Elliott’s injury. The team had only starting free safety Juan Thornhill, backup Chuck Clark and special teams captain Miles Killebrew on the 53-man roster, with undrafted rookie Sebastian Castro on the practice squad.
The Steelers play Peppers’ former team the Patriots in Week 3 at Gillette Stadium.
Alan Saunders provided reporting from Pittsburgh.
This article originally appeared on Steelers Now: Steelers Value Jabrill Peppers’ Versatility: ‘He’s a Football Player First, Positional Player Second’
