{"id":769807,"date":"2026-02-22T22:00:22","date_gmt":"2026-02-22T22:00:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/769807\/"},"modified":"2026-02-22T22:00:22","modified_gmt":"2026-02-22T22:00:22","slug":"steelers-have-big-task-for-2026-season-that-isnt-being-talked-about-enough","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/769807\/","title":{"rendered":"Steelers Have Big Task for 2026 Season That Isn’t Being Talked About Enough"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Pittsburgh Steelers\u00a0head into the 2026 offseason with a new direction for the team. The Steelers hired their new Head Coach, Mike McCarthy<\/a>,\u00a0and with that, McCarthy hired a brand new coaching staff. Defensive Coordinator Patrick Graham<\/a>\u00a0plans to keep Pittsburgh’s elite defensive identity alive this season. The Steelers have some key decisions to make surrounding their defense, including extending\u00a0<\/a>their star cornerback, Joey Porter Jr.<\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Steelers'<\/p>\n

Karl Roser \/ Pittsburgh Steelers<\/p>\n

Steelers’ Joey Porter Jr. makes a tackle during a Week 12 game against the Cleveland Browns<\/p>\n

In the 2026 offseason, the Steelers find themselves with many holes in their secondary; they have two free agent corners that played significant time in 2025 in James Pierre<\/a> and\u00a0Asante Samuel Jr<\/a>. that could be options to re-sign or holes in the defense that need to be addressed. The Steelers need to look in the NFL Draft to pair some secondary help with their star, Porter.<\/p>\n

Porter made significant strides towards superstardom in the 2025 season, where he was absolutely phenomenal. The young star limited his penalties, when a flag was only thrown on him six times. This was a ginormous improvement from his 2024 season, where he was penalized 17 times, leading the NFL. In 2026, Porter will look to just keep getting better as he awaits a contract extension.\u00a0<\/p>\n

However, there are question marks surrounding who Porter will be playing alongside, as the aforementioned talent that surrounded him last season could be on the move. Steelers insider Ray Fittipaldo\u00a0talked\u00a0<\/a>about the need to address this area of concern.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“There is a need there to develop a long-term starter at that position eventually. Slot corner and free safety are positions to address here [in the draft],” Fittipaldo said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Steelers could find themselves lacking secondary talent based on free agency and the particular roster moves that could occur, like Jalen Ramsey<\/a>\u00a0potentially being cut. This leaves Porter and Brandin Echols<\/a>\u00a0as the lone cornerbacks in the room should Pierre and Samuel walk, and Ramsey is cut or traded. Nonetheless, the Steelers would lack talent at these positions no matter what.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Steelers'<\/p>\n

Karl Roser \/ Pittsburgh Steelers<\/p>\n

Steelers’ Jalen Ramsey gets ready for the snap during a home game against the Miami Dolphins in 2025.<\/p>\n

The Steelers could find quality talent to add to their secondary in the first-round. The Steelers’ first-round pick seems to be very expendable as the team planned on using the pick on a potential starting quarterback this year, but the class did not live up to expectations.\u00a0<\/p>\n

That being said, the team could go many directions with their premium selections. The common theme seems to be receiver, but if high-quality secondary help drops down, or if the Steelers want to trade up, it could largely benefit the team. The Steelers are a team known for their defense, historically, and a weak secondary would not fit that mold.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Steelers Have Plenty Of Options In The 2025 Draft To Pair With Porter<\/p>\n

The Steelers find themselves in a rather good spot in terms of what positions of need are deepest in this year’s draft. The team needs secondary help, receivers, and linemen on both sides of the ball.\u00a0<\/p>\n

This draft is deep in all of these areas; however, a premium cornerback is achievable with the Steelers’ first-round pick. A potential option that could be available from the 21st spot could be Mansoor Delane\u00a0from LSU\u00a0or Avieon Terrell\u00a0from Clemson,\u00a0should he fall a bit. The Steelers could trade up to achieve a top-tier player in Tennessee’s Jermod McCoy.\u00a0No matter what the Steelers decide, they need to add a player that makes their secondary younger and more talented.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Steelers<\/p>\n

Kate Huffman \/ Tennessee Athletics<\/p>\n

Cornerback Jermod McCoy lines up for a play during his time at Tennessee.<\/p>\n

The Steelers have made some mistakes in their free agent signings in their secondary over the past few seasons. A huge bust was Darius Slay\u00a0last season, as he was touted to be a starter for the team. He was cut in the middle of the season, and along came the emergence of Pierre.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Steelers have to draft and develop talent as they did with Porter and, to a degree, Pierre. They can’t rely on a one-year deal with aging vets in their secondary if they want to make the jump to a Super Bowl contender.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Pittsburgh Steelers\u00a0head into the 2026 offseason with a new direction for the team. The Steelers hired their…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":769808,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2055],"tags":[8483,12009,843,9313,198,7,2394,1815,5856,7582,7211,7866,6,520,57,2360,7827,426,2395],"class_list":{"0":"post-769807","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-pittsburgh-steelers","8":"tag-asante-samuel-jr","9":"tag-brandin-echols","10":"tag-clemson-tigers","11":"tag-darius-slay","12":"tag-featured","13":"tag-football","14":"tag-forum","15":"tag-jalen-ramsey","16":"tag-james-pierre","17":"tag-joey-porter-jr","18":"tag-lsu-tigers","19":"tag-mike-mccarthy","20":"tag-nfl","21":"tag-pittsburgh","22":"tag-pittsburgh-steelers","23":"tag-pittsburghsteelers","24":"tag-ray-fittipaldo","25":"tag-steelers","26":"tag-steelers-news"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116116537911339594","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/769807","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=769807"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/769807\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/769808"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=769807"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=769807"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=769807"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}