Steelers' Jamel Dean's Injury History Should Absolutely "Damper Expectations"

The Pittsburgh Steelers have had plenty of positional struggles over the last decade, but none may be more consistent than cornerback. They have been able to find a quality top pass defender but never another to complement that individual. Steven Nelson was an outlier in 2019 to Joe Haden, but was cut after the 2020 season. Since Nelson, the Steelers have tried guys like Levi Wallace, Patrick Peterson, Donte Jackson, and Darius Slay, but none has worked out. Now, for the upcoming season, they made the big move of signing Jamel Dean to a three-year, $36 million contract. 

Dean is coming from the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, where he was a third-round pick in 2019 and has since carved out a very nice career. He was the top cornerback on a Super Bowl-winning team in 2021 that held phenom Patrick Mahomes to just nine points, and has been known as a quality player since. Tampa Bay opted not to re-sign Dean, allowing the Steelers to seize the opportunity to fill a need that has lingered for over a decade. 

Dean is a very good player and will be a really nice duo with rising star Joey Porter Jr. His size, physicality, and man coverage skills will be a perfect complement to Porter and give defensive coordinator Patrick Graham lots of skill in the back end. Dean is a match made in heaven for the Steelers, but he does come with some major concerns, so much so that one Steeler insider believes said concerns may dampen expectations. 

Ray Fittipaldo of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette recently wrote a countdown to training camp article about Dean potentially ending the team's free-agent drought at cornerback. Fittipaldo mentioned the pedigree Dean possesses, but also points out Dean's injury history as a cause for concern. With the number of games Dean has missed and the large number of different injuries, expectations on Dean's first season may not be as high as some think. 

"The one lingering question for Dean that could dampen expectations is his injury history. He has never played a full season and missed 11 games over his final three seasons in Tampa Bay. He had a bothersome hip injury that forced him to miss three games last season and he had knee, shoulder, hamstring and ankle injuries in 2023 and 2024," Fittipaldo wrote. 

Part of playing a very physical brand of football is the wear and tear on the body, and Dean has certainly seen his fair share. He is excellent in press man coverage and does not shy away from aiding against the run, a style or play the Steelers will certainly love to see. It will be very interesting to see whether Dean can maintain his physical play style heading into his age-30 season, given all the wear and tear he's absorbed over the years. 

Luckily for Dean, he won't have as much pressure on him as he did in Tampa. He was the top cornerback with the Buccaneers, lining up across every team's top wide receiver; now he's teammates with Porter, who will take that duty on. The Steelers don't need Dean to be a superstar; they need him to be a steady, consistent presence on the back end. 

Steelers' Dean Will Hopefully Break Recent Trend

With all of the failed free agent cornerback signings the franchise has had, Dean should be the one who finally hits. He may be turning 30, but he has much more left in the tank than the previous men did. He's coming off perhaps his best season as a pro, in a very aggressive defensive scheme that puts pressure on the cornerbacks. 

Hopefully, Dean can maintain his star-like form this season and stay on the field. The team has some depth in the secondary but many uncertainties. Dean will need to be available for the Steelers all season; otherwise, he may end up on the list of failed free agent cornerback signings. 

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