The moment that the Pittsburgh Steelers let Terrell Edmunds leave town, the holes in the secondary went from worrying to gaping. The move was a huge surprise, considering how Pittsburgh love their home-grown players, but it also put the safety position back into play for the upcoming NFL Draft. All eyes fell on Brian Branch, the dynamic safety out of Alabama, to be the immediate (albeit knee-jerk) reaction and answer to the sudden dilemma. This was all before Omar Khan struck again with another in a series of moves proving how different this Pittsburgh offseason has been; he signed Keanu Neal.
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Steelers offseason norms are shifting
Granted, almost everything about the 2022 offseason has gone against the usual Steelers grain, but this particular signing signaled a shift in how Pittsburgh tends to address the secondary. The way it used to go was the Steelers would have a single star in the secondary, and the job of the surrounding players was to back them up, usually with a solid safety opposite a play-maker, or a rotation of cornerbacks with one standout.
For every Troy Polamalu, you had a Chris Hope or Ryan Clark - both solid players, but were tasked with stepping up whenever Polamalu's all-over style took over. For every Ike Taylor (the closest that has come to a shutdown corner in Pittsburgh since Rod Woodson), you had a steady turnover that brought in suitable corners, but never got that true #1B CB to compliment Taylor.
Edmunds was not a stationary safety, but he was not labeled a "play-maker" during his tenure. When Fitzpatrick, the current all-over safety for Pittsburgh, travels and slinks about to find the perfect spot, the burden falls to the remaining safety to be solid rather than flamboyant. Neal, though, is much more akin to playing the same style as Fitzpatrick, and Polamalu before him; moving about, looking for the big play, and hitting hard!
Matt Freed / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
So, not only did the move to sign Neal shift further from the norm in Pittsburgh, it created some positive curiosity around the future of the Steelers' secondary.
Steelers' secondary outlook beyond 2023
Neal's arrival in Pittsburgh should take some pressure off the front office to draft a safety with a Top 50 pick in the upcoming draft. It is a similar situation to the impact Patrick Peterson's signing had, except that Peterson only has a year or two left in his career and Neal is out to prove that at 27 years old, he has plenty left to give.
This means that despite Peterson's immediate impact, the Steelers will certainly be looking to those Top 50 selections for their next cornerback. Having a veteran presence like Peterson creates a perfect situation to bring a rookie into. Neal, though, signals a bit of breathing room on the safety front, at least in regard to the NFL Draft. His hard-hitting style raises some questions, but the fact that Neal started all 17 games in 2022 was enough for the Steelers to take a two-year chance on him.
Gene J. Puskar / AP
When the dust settles following the draft, expect the Steelers to have added a top-flight cornerback, but don't discount the possibility that a lower-end pick could be used on a safety with a higher ceiling as long as they get time to sit and learn. One thing that Steeler fans can be sure of, though, is that the rookies who are welcomed into the locker room will be entering a roster built for both on-and-off the field leadership.
Thoughts on the future of the Pittsburgh secondary? Comment below!
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