This has been one of the most active offseasons in Pittsburgh Steelers history with multiple high-profile trades and free agent signings to transform the roster. It’s a clear indication that the team intends on being a serious contender in 2025, but there is one glaring weakness on its roster at the moment. One Steelers insider believes they likely aren’t done adding meaningful pieces to the roster.
Mark Kaboly was asked if adding a safety is more pressing than landing a No. 2 WR.
“I would think that that’s No. 1 on the list,” he said Tuesday via 93.7 The Fan’s Morning Show. “I’m not saying I’m not a Juan Thornhill believer, but they based their whole organization on having competition and where’s the competition at for a guy that nobody wanted last year who had a bad season for the Cleveland Browns?”
Thornhill was a solid—but not great—starter during his four seasons with the Kansas City Chiefs. He was much less impressive for the Browns over the past two seasons, and now he’s expected to be the Steelers’ starting free safety? Minkah Fitzpatrick hadn’t been playing up to his contract, but he was still among the best safeties in the league at keeping a lid on the defense. They are prone to finding out exactly how meaningful he was to their defense if they view Thornhill as the definitive solution there this season.
“What if somebody gets hurt? You going with Miles Killebrew? I mean what do you have behind that?” Kaboly said. “I think that’s all set up as a veteran guy that they would like to get, but that could be done in September when there might be somebody come free as well. That’s why I think there’s something else on the agenda.”
There would be no better option than S Justin Simmons. If the Steelers could attract him to Pittsburgh, they would be set with a former All-Pro next to DeShon Elliott on the back end. Thornhill could go back to more of a rotational role and serve as a very solid No. 3 safety.
Simmons recently explained why he’s still a free agent this late in the process and what he’s looking for in his next team. He wants to go to a contender, and he could be one of the missing pieces toward making the Steelers a serious one.
Unless they want to re-live the struggles of 2023, when they were signing free agents off the street to start at safety, the Steelers need to add just one last piece to their defense before the start of the season.