The Pittsburgh Steelers signed S Trenton Thompson and CB Isaiah Dunn, the team announced today. In corresponding moves, the team waived/injured RB Alfonzo Graham and placed CB Cory Trice Jr. on the reserve/injured list.
Thompson played his college football at San Diego State before signing with the New York Giants as an undrafted free agent in 2022. He played 12 special teams snaps in New York’s Week 12 loss to the Dallas Cowboys last year, but the 6-foot-1, 196-pound safety was waived last week.
At San Diego State, he made first-team All-Mountain West in 2021 and was also a team captain. He had 44 tackles, three interceptions, 15 pass breakups and two quarterbacks in 14 starts for the Aztecs. On special teams, he also had two field goal blocks at SDSU. He will wear No. 17 for the Steelers.
Dunn played his college ball at Oregon State and has a little more NFL experience than Thompson. He’s played 17 games in his career, 12 with the New York Jets in 2021 and five with the Seattle Seahawks last year. In his NFL career, Dunn has 10 tackles and one pass defended. He also has one start, with the Jets in 2021. He stands at 6-feet and weighs 193 pounds and was a key special teams contributor for Seattle in his five games last year, playing 67 percent of special teams snaps in those games. He will wear No. 25 for the Steelers.
He missed the final 11 games of the 2022 season after being placed on IR by Seattle. He had 115 tackles and 18 passes defended in his college career.
With Trice going down, Dunn adds another body to compete for backup reps in the cornerback room and a potential special teams option. S Minkah Fitzpatrick has been excused from the Steelers due to a personal matter, while fellow S Damontae Kazee is down with an injury. Thus, the lines in the safety room were getting a little bit small, so now Thompson can come in and compete and help manage reps a little better.
Trice’s season is now over with his placement on IR. He suffered a serious injury in his lower right leg during practice yesterday. Graham tore his labrum during practice over the weekend, and if he clears waivers he’ll revert to Pittsburgh’s IR on a $450,000 split salary.
