It’s been several days since the Pittsburgh Steelers officially lost former first-round pick Terrell Edmunds to their cross-state rival the Philadelphia Eagles. At this year’s League Meetings, Mike Tomlin was asked about the strong safety’s loss and the impact it’ll have on the Steelers.
“He’s a football lover,” Tomlin told NJ.com’s Chris Franklin. “He’s highly available. He is very durable and tough. We had a good experience together, and I wish him nothing but the best.”
Edmunds’ best attribute was his availability. He missed just three games in five years with the Steelers and played at least 860 snaps every season. Though his ceiling was always limited, he slowly made strides throughout his career and he was almost always in the lineup. He and Minkah Fitzpatrick played off each other well and the two developed a strong bond and chemistry, limiting coverage busts and mental mistakes.
Now, the Steelers will have to address replacing him and all those starts and snaps. Earlier in the day, Tomlin confirmed the team will be adding at least one more safety to the roster, through free agency or the draft. Free agent options are dwindling with SS Taylor Rapp coming off the board — he inked a one-year deal with the Buffalo Bills — while the draft class is generally considered weak. The biggest swing the Steelers could make is selecting Alabama’s Brian Branch at #17 but after him, there’s a clear drop off in talent.
Pittsburgh’s secondary will look considerably different in 2023. In addition to Edmunds, their biggest secondary loss was CB Cam Sutton to the Detroit Lions. The team signed Patrick Peterson to replace him but will likely draft a corner early in the draft, within their top three selections. The Steelers also need help in the slot to replace Sutton there and could draft somebody who can play inside, at least on passing downs.
Retaining Edmunds would’ve been the best thing for the team but as Dave Bryan outlined, the structure of the Eagles’ deal was something the Steelers probably weren’t looking to match. But paying a tiny bit more on the Steelers’ terms to keep Edmunds is better than investing the money, draft capital, and inserting the risk of the unknown in finding his replacement. What’s done is done and we’ll see how the Steelers address things.
