This was an unexpected move. Two weeks into the free agency period, it appeared as if the safety market was falling flat. Outside of Jesse Bates -- who raked in a substantial payday -- other free agent safeties were signing for very cheap and reasonable deals. I was hoping this was going to be a great sign that the Pittsburgh Steelers would retain Terrell Edmunds. It was not.
After a quiet week by the Steelers, Edmunds took to social media. In a heartfelt tweet, he waved goodbye to the city that he has been in since 2018.
Thank you Pittsburgh for making my dreams come to reality! You will forever be apart of me and my journey! I’m thankful for all of my coaches, teammates and every fan supporting! To my bruddas y’all kno how we rockin, it’s gonna be luv until the wheels fall off 🙏🏾🖤 #ManTime🫡🔒 pic.twitter.com/nTujRQ4Oej
— Terrell Edmunds (@rell_island6) March 23, 2023
Edmunds was the former 28th overall pick by Pittsburgh back in the 2018 NFL Draft. At the time of the selection, many fans viewed the pick as a reach, and while he never quite lived up to his first-round status, he made strides over the past two seasons.
The biggest issue with Edmunds is that he really struggled to add splash plays and takeaways to the defense. Though he improved his consistency both in coverage and as a run defender, he offered little extra to the defense.
It's unclear at this time what the next chapter is for Edmunds or where he will be playing in 2023. We obviously have no contract details at this time, but I would be very interested to see what the Steelers let him walk away for.
Steelers could look for more safety help
Last year, just before the 2022 NFL Draft, Pittsburgh signed the athletic safety to a one-year, $2.5 million deal. If he went for something similar in free agency this time around, I would be curious as to why the Steelers didn't answer.
For now, it looks like it's going to be Damontae Kazee manning the strong safety position alongside Minkah Fitzpatrick. With the latest Steelers news of Edmunds' departure, I would expect Pittsburgh to look for safety help in free agency.
Edmunds has been one of the healthiest players on the Steelers over the past five years -- starting 75 of 79 games he appeared in, per ESPN stats. Unfortunately, he earned just 5 interceptions and 26 pass defenses during this time.
If nobody is signed before the NFL Draft, this suddenly becomes a bigger need as depth is greatly lacking. It will be interesting to see what they do now. Minkah will look to develop chemistry with a new member in the backend of Pittsburgh's defense.