New Safety Option Emerges For Steelers After DeShon Elliot Injured Reserve Announcement

The Pittsburgh Steelers finished cutdown weekend with their initial roster largely settled, only for the secondary to immediately create another item for the shopping list. A position that already carried questions throughout the summer is suddenly down a starter for at least the first month of the season. Fortunately for Pittsburgh, cutdown day has a funny way of creating solutions at almost the exact moment new problems appear.

One of those solutions could be Geno Stone. According to a Sunday report, the Buffalo Bills are releasing the veteran safety after signing him earlier this offseason. Stone will explore the open market before potentially considering a return to Buffalo's practice squad, and would give Pittsburgh an experienced option at precisely the position where it suddenly needs one.

The timing could hardly be cleaner. Pittsburgh placed DeShon Elliott on Injured Reserve with a designation to return Sunday, guaranteeing that one of its projected starting safeties will miss at least the first four games. Elliott had only recently returned from the devastating knee and hamstring injuries that ended his 2025 season, appearing against the New York Jets before experiencing what Head Coach Mike McCarthy described as soreness afterward.

Pittsburgh does have Jaquan Brisker, Rayshawn Jenkins and rookie Robert Spears-Jennings available at safety. That is enough to field a lineup. Whether it is enough to comfortably navigate the opening month is a different question.

Brisker was signed to start beside Elliott and should remain one of the primary pieces in the secondary. Jenkins gives Pittsburgh substantial NFL experience, having appeared in 139 games with 92 starts before joining the Steelers in August. Spears-Jennings earned his roster spot after arriving as a seventh-round pick, but asking a rookie to become essential depth before Week 1 is different from allowing him to develop into that responsibility naturally.

Stone would provide another answer without requiring Pittsburgh to wait on one.

The 27-year-old originally entered the league as a seventh-round selection by the Baltimore Ravens in 2020 and gradually played his way into a significant defensive role. His breakout came in 2023, when he intercepted seven passes while starting 11 games. He then spent the next two seasons with the Cincinnati Bengals, starting all 34 regular-season contests and becoming a fixture in another AFC North secondary.

Last season was arguably his busiest yet. Stone recorded 104 tackles, two sacks and two interceptions for Cincinnati before signing a one-year contract with Buffalo during free agency. His release says the Bills preferred other options in their own safety competition, but it also puts a healthy player with 14 career interceptions and 21 passes defensed onto the market days before Pittsburgh begins preparing for Week 1.

There is value in the familiarity, too. Stone has spent virtually his entire NFL career inside the AFC North, seeing the same quarterbacks, route concepts and divisional offenses Pittsburgh will encounter every year. He would still have to learn a new defensive system, but the Steelers would not be teaching an inexperienced player how Sundays in this division tend to operate.

Pittsburgh has already spent much of the offseason searching for answers at safety. The organization brought Brisker aboard in free agency, later swapped Darnell Savage for Jenkins during camp and previously had veteran safety options floated as possible additions. Elliott's latest absence gives the front office a reason to revisit that market with considerably more urgency.

Stone does not have to arrive as some dramatic replacement for Elliott. That would miss the point. The Steelers need another legitimate NFL safety who can absorb snaps, survive an injury elsewhere and prevent Spears-Jennings from being pushed into a role before the coaching staff believes he is ready for it.

The other advantage is flexibility. If Jenkins performs well alongside Brisker, Stone can provide experienced rotational depth. If Pittsburgh prefers Stone in certain coverage situations, there are enough different skill sets in the room to mix combinations. Nobody needs to be promised 1,000 snaps for the signing to make sense.

His availability should also remind Pittsburgh that the initial 53-man roster is exactly that: initial. Teams do not spend months building a roster only to suddenly stop looking for upgrades because the cutdown deadline passed. Hundreds of players became available Sunday, and the Steelers now have both an open question and a particularly interesting answer sitting in the same transaction cycle.

Steelers Should Not Leave The Safety Room This Thin

Elliott being eligible to return after four games makes this a much different situation than replacing someone lost for the season. Pittsburgh needs a bridge, not necessarily another long-term starter. That should make a veteran such as Stone even more appealing because the role can change once Elliott is healthy enough to reclaim his place.

There is also no guarantee Elliott returns the moment he becomes eligible. His 2025 injury required a lengthy recovery, and Sunday's move shows Pittsburgh is still managing his path carefully. Building the safety room under the assumption that everything will become normal exactly four games from now would be unnecessarily optimistic.

Stone happens to be available, experienced and familiar with the division. He is even a Western Pennsylvania product, having grown up in New Castle before eventually playing at Iowa. The Steelers do not need the local connection to make the football argument work, but it certainly would make the transaction feel a little more Pittsburgh.

The initial roster gave Pittsburgh three healthy true safeties while Elliott begins another stretch on the sideline. That might technically be enough.

With someone like Stone suddenly available, there is little reason to find out the hard way.

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