The Pittsburgh Steelers are signing veteran safety Jabrill Peppers, per NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport. Peppers will serve as help after starting SS DeShon Elliott suffered a knee injury during the team’s season opener Sunday.
Rapoport didn’t indicate if Peppers will sign with the Steelers’ practice squad or their 53-man roster. Either way, Pittsburgh will need to make a corresponding move to fit him onto the roster.
Peppers, 29, was cut by the New England Patriots last month and was not on an NFL roster Week 1. A vested veteran, his contract now isn’t guaranteed for the entire season. With 99 career games and 85 starts, Peppers offers plenty of NFL experience. Last season, he appeared in just six games but was productive, recording 40 tackles, two pass breakups, one forced fumble, and one interception. In 2023, he started 15 games for the Patriots, recording 78 tackles.
An impressive athlete coming out of Michigan, Peppers has the pedigree Pittsburgh typically covets. A first-round pick of the Cleveland Browns in 2017, he spent two years with the Browns before being traded to the New York Giants as part of the deal for WR Odell Beckham Jr. Peppers has been consistent against the run and at his best closer to the line of scrimmage, notching 30 tackles for a loss and 5.5 sacks throughout his career. He’s also served as a kick and punt returner throughout parts of his career.
In college, he was a two-way player at safety and running back, finishing fifth in Heisman voting in 2016. That season, he rushed for three touchdowns, returned a punt for a score, recording 16 tackles for a loss, notched four sacks, and picked off one pass.
Ahead of the 2017 draft, at least one report indicated former Steelers GM Kevin Colbert “loved” Peppers and he became a popular pick in national media mock drafts. But he was taken several spots ahead of Pittsburgh, which selected Wisconsin EDGE T.J. Watt instead. Not a bad consolation prize.
The severity of Elliott’s knee injury isn’t known but Peppers’ signing suggests Elliott won’t play Sunday against the Seattle Seahawks. Veteran Chuck Clark replaced Elliott against the New York Jets and figures to start if Elliott is out. Other safeties on the team include special teamer Miles Killebrew and rookie Sebastian Castor, the latter on the team’s practice squad. Mike Tomlin holds his weekly press conference later today and will provide an update.