Steelers Considering Cutting Ties With Former Fan Favorite Prospect

The Pittsburgh Steelers finally ended training camp in Latrobe, PA and headed back to Pittsburgh on Tuesday in preparation for a joint practice (and preseason game) with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Thankfully, the Steelers are leaving Latrobe without too many injury concerns. The most notable is likely Calvin Austin III, who has missed nearly two weeks of practices due to an injury, while other players have suffered minor setbacks that have already returned to the practice field. One player who has also missed considerable time is cornerback Cory Trice Jr., who went down with a hamstring injury.

Trice was a seventh-round pick for the Steelers during the 2023 NFL Draft. Some believed he deserved to go higher in the draft, but he had injury concerns entering his professional career, and those concerns proved to come true. The young defender missed his entire rookie season in 2023 with a torn ACL, and he was only able to appear in six games in 2024 while battling a hamstring issue. Team insider Mark Kaboly had Trice listed as a "loser" of training camp due to his injury, even speculating that he might not be with Pittsburgh in the near future.

"Trice is uber talented, but he just can’t stay healthy," Kaboly wrote. "At what point do the Steelers cut ties with him because of him being unreliable? It is getting close to that point in time."

The defensive back has only been available in six games over the first two seasons of his career, but the coaching staff has remained excited about what he could become. However, there comes a time when the injuries just become too much, and Kaboly believes the Steelers might be at that point. The severity of Trice's hamstring injury has not been stated publicly, but he needs to get back on the field soon in order to stay on the roster.

The injury isn't the only thing that is going against Trice. Pittsburgh also revamped the cornerback group during the 2025 offseason, which included bringing in high-end talent like Jalen Ramsey and Darius Slay. Pittsburgh also signed Brandin Echols, who is competing with Beanie Bishop Jr. at slot cornerback in certain packages. The room is packed with talent, and Trice was going to have to have a good camp to make it onto the final roster. He can still do that, but he needs to find a way to get back on the field soon.

By this point in his career, the hope was that Trice would be a consistent contributor to the Pittsburgh defense. He and Joey Porter Jr. were drafted in the same year, and some fans believed they had what it took to be the two starting cornerbacks in Pittsburgh for years to come, but the injuries have not allowed that to happen up to this point. Porter has turned into a solid starter with a ton of potential, but Trice is still waiting in the wings.

Steelers' Cory Trice Jr. Just Needs More Experience

Trice has shown some flashes when he has been able to get onto the field for Pittsburgh. He had the game-sealing interception against the Denver Broncos at the beginning of the 2024 season, but he suffered his hamstring injury during the next game. 

He was put on an island against Ja'Marr Chase at the end of the 2024 season, and he got beat pretty bad. He likely learned some lessons from that matchup and was going to come back even stronger in 2025, but fans are going to have to wait and see if he can get back on the field for the Steelers.

What do you think the Steelers are going to do with Trice? Will he get back on the field before the season? Let us know in the comments below!

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