Terrell Edmunds is staying in Pennsylvania but not in Pittsburgh. He inked a one-year deal with the Philadelphia Eagles Friday and had an introductory press conference with his new team. Immediately, he was asked how close he was to re-upping with Pittsburgh again and about his time with the Steelers.
“I had five great seasons with the Steelers,” he said via the Eagles’ YouTube channel. “Met some great teammates, great coaches, great culture over there. But when I came over here and I spoke to their coaching staff and I talked to some of the guys on the Philly team, it just really brought me into it. And now I’m bought in and I’m ready to work. Ready to come in and give it everything I’ve got.”
Edmunds seemed to skirt around the question of how close he was to signing back with the Steelers. It’s not known if Pittsburgh ever made a contract offer. Yesterday, he announced his goodbye from the organization. Today, he’s officially an Eagle.
Later in the press conference, Edmunds said this offseason was “similar” to the one he went through in 2022, implying he had a couple different options and perhaps even one from Pittsburgh. But this time, he’s headed to play somewhere else. Edmunds also told reporters he had a couple conversations with the Eagles before finalizing the deal.
Pittsburgh drafted Edmunds in the first round in 2018. At the time, he was considered a surprise first round selection and never lived up to the expectations his draft status placed on him. Still, he was a solid and dependable player who started 75 career games and missed only three contests throughout his career. Now, Pittsburgh will have to move on without him. For Edmunds, he’s excited to join the Eagles’ defense and be part of a team that blew the Steelers out last season.
“Philly had an exciting defense all year. When you guys played against us, it wasn’t our best day being with the Steelers,” he said. “As you can see, Philly’s defense in general was exciting to watch. Every game, even the Super Bowl game, everything was so exciting to watch them go out there and go at it. You could tell people were passionate…that’s something I wanted to buy into.”
The Eagles destroyed the Steelers 35-13 as wide receiver A.J. Brown torched Pittsburgh’s secondary with three touchdowns. Pittsburgh will look to replace Edmunds’ strong safety role through free agency, the draft, or potentially both. They did re-sign Damontae Kazee to a two-year deal, though the contract hasn’t officially been announced.
