Should The Steelers Lock Up Terrell Edmunds Long-Term In 2023?

The Pittsburgh Steelers 2023 off-season has officially begun. The team has a lot of decisions to make in the coming weeks. Many players are set to hit free agency, and the Steelers need to figure out who to retain and who to let walk. One of those players is strong safety, Terrell Edmunds.

Edmunds has been the starting strong safety since his rookie year in 2018, and while he doesn’t have a Pro Bowl under his name, has been a steady force in the secondary. He has been back there with his All-Pro running mate, Minkah Fitzpatrick since 2019, and the two have been a great tandem since. 

Fitzpatrick has gotten most of the glory, and rightfully so. He has been nothing short of spectacular on the back end, earning All-Pro nods in three of his four years with the team. Edmunds has been the quiet one, but has quietly had 70+ tackles in four of his five seasons as a Steeler. What he lacks in coverage, he makes up for in run stopping and pass rush. He ranked 7th in pass rush grade among all safeties in the NFL per PFF.

How Much Will Edmunds Run The Steelers?

This is the tricky part. Edmunds' value remains the question mark. It is less of one than it was last season when he hit the market for the first time, ultimately landing back with the Steelers. Edmunds signed back on a one-year, $2.5 million dollar deal. If the team can keep him long-term around that number, I believe it’s a no-brainer to bring him back and lock him up. However, anything more than that I believe the team could look in another direction.

Steelers May Already Have A Replacement On The Team

One issue that lies ahead for Edmunds is the team may have another option in Damontae Kazee. Kazee came in later on in the season after landing on the IR during preseason. Kazee came in after the bye week and was an immediate plug and play. He amassed 20 tackles and 2 interceptions along with 2 passes defended. By comparison, Edmunds had 5 passes defended in all 17 games and 0 interceptions. 

Kazee had both higher pass coverage (78.6 to 68) and run stopping grades (79.6 to 63.4) according to PFF. Kazee obviously has the smaller sample size, so this may be a bit skewed in his favor, but those are certainly big gaps. It’s hard to deny that once Kazee came in, the defense was a bit more potent, although it’s worth mentioning his return was the same week of TJ Watt’s.

With all that being said, Edmunds still has two obvious advantages over Kazee. First, he’s three years younger than Kazee. Hard to not want to invest in the younger talent if you had to pick one. The second is that he’s been with this defense for five seasons and has an undeniable chemistry with the secondary and Fitzpatrick. Two things that are extremely hard to ignore. 

These are just two players in the secondary that the Steelers need to make tough decisions on. Cornerback Cameron Sutton is set to hit the open market as well, and the team would likely want to see all three of these guys return if possible. Marcus Allen and James Pierre are set to be free agents too.

So, should the Steelers sign Edmunds long-term? Comment below.

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