Veteran safety Damontae Kazee signed a two-year, $6 million contract with the Pittsburgh Steelers this offseason just a short time into open free agency after playing out a one-year deal in 2022 on the roster, half of which he spent on the Reserve/Injured List.
Evidently, that’s really not what he was expecting to happen this offseason. “I’d gotten rid of my apartment and everything”, he told Chris Adamski of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. “But I know business is business. So you keep your head up”.
Kazee is not unfamiliar with changing teams. Pittsburgh was his third in as many seasons when he signed last year. Drafted by the Atlanta Falcons in 2017, he spent four years there, then signed with the Dallas Cowboys in 2021. Then it was on to the Steelers, where he’s happy to continue his career, business and pleasure meeting at the ideal spot. Despite other opportunities, apparently.
“It was a lot of teams that called out”, he told Adamski. “But I liked this program over here. I like the brotherhood. I like the coaches. Everybody is just one unit around here. Everybody’s close. So this was an easy choice for me to come back”.
While the roles are not quite settled just yet, the opportunity is there for Kazee to re-enter the starting lineup. The Steelers failed to re-sign five-year starting strong safety Terrell Edmunds, who opted to join the Philadelphia Eagles instead for a relative bargain of a deal—worth less than what Kazee signed to stay in Pittsburgh.
Still, even though the incumbent starter next to Minkah Fitzpatrick is gone, they also brought in Keanu Neal, a safety with whom Kazee is very familiar. They spent five years together, four in Atlanta and one in Dallas. The 2022 season was the first of Kazee’s career in which he wasn’t Neal’s teammate, often starting together.
Now they’ll be competing for one spot, or perhaps timesharing it. Kazee is seen as more of the traditional ballhawking type of safety, while Neal is the more physical player. He even played a hybrid linebacker role while the two were with the Cowboys.
It’s possible that the Steelers will deploy both under different circumstances, which could get pretty complicated, but they will most likely spend a decent amount of time on the field together. The Steelers wanted to use more three-safety looks last season, but Kazee’s injury that took him out for the first eight games. Coupled with some bumps and bruises for Edmunds and Fitzpatrick in the second half, it limited how much they could use it.
They’re hoping to have that three-safety look going this year, and perhaps at a good time, because the Steelers’ options for slot defender are less than ideal. The primary candidates are Chandon Sullivan and Patrick Peterson, who would be new to the role after a dozen years playing on the boundary.
