Tag: Patrick Peterson

15 Steelers free agents who remain unsigned

The Pittsburgh Steelers have put on a free agency show like they have never done before this offseason. Many critical voids have been filled, and things have been quiet with the NFL draft just over three weeks away. Pittsburgh has 15 free agents who …

The Pittsburgh Steelers have put on a free agency show like they have never done before this offseason. Many critical voids have been filled, and things have been quiet with the NFL draft just over three weeks away.

Pittsburgh has 15 free agents who remain without a team — linebackers chief among them. Given how recent seasons have played out, it seems the Steelers can’t have enough quality depth there. Re-signing guys like Markus Golden and Kwon Alexander might be a smart move.

Here are the former Steelers players who could (or not) make their way back to the Steel City.

Patrick Peterson’s situation more complicated for return to Steelers

Patrick Peterson says he needs some lead time if he’s going to play safety this season.

From the moment the Pittsburgh Steelers released veteran cornerback Patrick Peterson at the start of the offseason, we speculated he is a perfect candidate to return to the team at some point. We also wondered if his best bet to return would be as a safety instead of a cornerback.

Peterson addressed this on the NFL on Fox Podcast and made it clear he does not want to return to the NFL as a safety.

I don’t want to start at safety because that’s a different animal back there,” Peterson said. “That’s a different view back there. If that is the case, I would need to be warned going into the season to get my body, my mental prepared. It’s different being at the safety from the cornerback position, having those open-field tackles.

In 2023, injuries forced Peterson to play a significant amount of safety for the Steelers. He played over 1,000 defensive snaps last season and nearly 1/3 of those were at safety in some capacity. While we appreciate what Peterson is saying about needing lead time, he played well at safety last season and a case can be made he was better at safety than he was at outside cornerback.

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Steelers open to bringing back CB Patrick Peterson

Mike Tomlin said the team could bring Patrick Peterson back at some point.

One of the big offseason moves the Pittsburgh Steelers made was the release of veteran cornerback Patrick Peterson to help save the team money. When it first happened, we speculated that Peterson would be a prime candidate to return to the team at a later date and on a more cap-friendly deal.

On Sunday, head coach Mike Tomlin addressed the media about the offseason while attending the NFL Annual Meeting in Orlando and basically said the same thing.

Tomlin said the team was open to bringing Peterson back at a later date. Peterson’s best days as a shutdown cornerback may be behind him but when the team moved him to safety last season to cover injuries, he played well.

Pittsburgh signed safety DeShon Elliott as a free agent and should start next to Minkah Fitzpatrick but bringing Peterson back would give the Steelers a great three-man safety rotation.

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Patrick Peterson talks about possibly returning to Pittsburgh

One of the best defensive backs in LSU history just finished his 13th season in the NFL.

One of the best defensive backs in LSU history just finished his 13th season in the NFL. [autotag]Patrick Peterson[/autotag] was the fifth overall pick in the 2011 NFL draft by the Arizona Cardinals where he would then become a star.

He has played in 201 games in his career and he has started in 200 of those games. He has 652 tackles in his career with 36 interceptions and 19 forced fumbles. He played for Arizona for 10 years before going to Minnesota for two years. Last season, he played for the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Peterson was released by the Steelers recently before free agency began, but he has high hopes he will return to Pittsburgh.

“I would love to return back to Pittsburgh, had a great, me and coach (Mike) Tomlin had a great dialogue when I got that dreaded call of being released,” he said. “But being there in Pittsburgh I had the time of my life, being with coach Tomlin, seeing how he was able to get his guys up week in and week out, no matter what the circumstances were, he told me the door’s still open for business, so we’ll see what happens here in the next couple weeks and month or two, and hopefully I can be a Pittsburgh Steeler again. But a team that is looking for a veteran corner, I’m out there.

“I definitely want to give it another shot to fulfill my long dream and to go win a championship.”

Hopefully, [autotag]Mike Tomlin[/autotag] can find a place for him on the defense.

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Steelers re-sign NT Breiden Fehoko

Breiden Fehoko returns after spending 2023 on the practice squad.

According to the NFL transaction report, the Pittsburgh Steelers have re-signed nose tackle Breiden Fehoko. Fehoko was signed at the start of the 2023 season from the Los Angeles Chargers and spent all of the 2023 NFL season on the Steelers practice squad.

With Montravius Adams and Armon Watts both about to hit free agency, signing Fehoko makes a lot of sense. Despite his lack of usage last year, Fehoko is a strong run stuffer who showed that in the preseason and could end up making the roster as a rotational run defender.

The Steelers have been very busy ahead of the start of free agency. In addition to re-signing Fehoko, the Steelers also released veteran cornerback Patrick Peterson and wide receiver Allen Robinson to free up $17 million in cap space they can use to sign free agents starting next week.

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Pittsburgh Steelers reportedly releasing former LSU CB Patrick Peterson

The 33-year-old is reportedly back on the market.

Veteran cornerback and former LSU star [autotag]Patrick Peterson[/autotag] will be in search of a new home once again this offseason. On Friday, ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported that the Pittsburgh Steelers plan to release the 33-year-old and eight-time Pro Bowler.

The Steelers signed Peterson to a two-year contract last offseason after spending the previous two seasons with the Minnesota Vikings. The three-time First Team All-Pro and former fifth overall pick started in 16 of 17 games this season, totaling 34 tackles, two picks and 11 passes defended.

Peterson said last month that he didn’t plan to retire and hoped to play through the extent of his contract with Pittsburgh.

Peterson has also said he’s open to playing safety.

It doesn’t seem like this is the end for Peterson, who will be 34 by the start of the 2024 season. But we’ll have to wait and see where he ultimately plays next fall.

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Steelers 2024 free agency: CB Patrick Peterson released

The Steelers released cornerback Patrick Peterson on Friday.

The Pittsburgh Steelers are gearing up for free agency by getting their internal house in order, and the process continued today with the release of cornerback Patrick Peterson.

Peterson, who played 97 percent of defensive snaps in 2023, logged two interceptions, 11 defended passes and 42 tackles in his only season with the Steelers.

According to Over the Cap, the move saves Pittsburgh $6.85 million with $2.925M in dead money.

The move certainly puts the Steelers in the market for a cornerback via the NFL draft, free agency or both, especially with Levi Wallace also expected to test the free agent market.

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Joey Porter Jr. ripped on podcast rant by ex-Steelers CB

Steven Nelson is still bitter about how things ended with the Steelers.

Does every NFL team have so many former players with an axe to grind like the Pittsburgh Steelers do? It seems like more and more former Steelers whom the team didn’t keep wants to get in front of a microphone and rip the Steelers.

The latest cornerback is Steven Nelson. He took to his podcast (because doesn’t everyone have a podcast now?) and decided to throw a little tantrum about how his time with the team ended. But then he decided to take it a step further and take a not-so-subtle shot at starting cornerback Joey Porter Jr.

Nelson had the audacity to say that the Steelers still haven’t found a corner yet since he left despite drafting Porter in the second round of the 2023 NFL draft and he ended up being one of the two or three best rookie cornerbacks in the league last season.

Taking it a step further, he was also taking a shot at Patrick Peterson who the Steelers added last season. Peterson will be in the Pro Football Hall of Fame after he retires and while he wasn’t his best last season, I’m not sure Nelson has the resume to insult him either.

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Brian Thomas Jr. posts best Relative Athletic Score in LSU history at NFL combine

Receiver Brian Thomas Jr. posted the best RAS score in LSU history on Saturday.

Brian Thomas Jr.’s draft stock is once again on the rise after putting on a show at the NFL combine over the weekend.

Throughout 2023, Thomas put his rare blend of size and speed on film. That athleticism was evident at the combine, with Thomas posting an official time of 4.33 in the 40-yard dash.

That’s elite speed for anyone. But for a 6-foot-3 and 209-pound receiver, it really stands out.

With his vertical and broad jump numbers marked as “great,” Thomas was able to post the best Relative Athletic Score in LSU history.

Thomas’ score of 9.97 wasn’t just LSU’s best, but it was one of the best in combine history. Only nine receivers had posted a better score in the event’s history.

Thomas’ ability was on display in the drills too, topping out at 22.91 mph on a go-route — the best mark at the combine.

LSU’s previous top RAS was D.J. Chark’s score of 9.94 in 2018. Thomas and Chark, along with [autotag]Patrick Peterson[/autotag], are the only three players in LSU history to surpass a 9.90 RAS.

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Steelers 2024 offseason roster – Cornerbacks

The Steelers could need to add multiple cornerbacks this offseason.

Last season, the Pittsburgh Steelers were fortunate that then-rookie cornerback Joey Porter Jr. was ready for prime time and stepped up in the second half of the season. Going into this offseason, the Steelers have several free agents at cornerback and could be looking for a big rebuild of the position. Here are the Steelers cornerbacks currently on the offseason roster.