When news broke late Tuesday night that the Pittsburgh Steelers were planning on cutting veteran cornerback Desmond King II if they couldn’t trade him in the days ahead, it was a bit of a surprise since the Steelers moved quickly to sign the veteran cornerback in early September after he was cut by the Houston Texans.
Turns out, the Steelers are moving on from a guy that is not what they were expecting when they signed him.
The Athletic Steelers beat reporter Mark Kaboly, during an appearance on the 93.7 The Fan’s Cook and Joe Show, stated that the decision to move on from King is purely physical and has to do with his on-the-field abilities.
To date, King has played just one defensive snap, which was on Baltimore Ravens running back Justice Hill’s 14-yard touchdown run in Week Five at Acrisure Stadium. He also has played just 15 total special teams snaps. Now, the Steelers are moving on.
“Well, what I was told or led to believe was it was purely his ability. They just didn’t see him fitting in here. They didn’t like what they saw over the past month and a half, so they decided to move on from him. They’re not gonna trade him. Nobody’s interested in trading for him, so they will end up releasing him. It’s purely physical, purely on-the-field play,” Kaboly said to co-hosts Ron Cook and Joe Starkey, according to audio via 93.7 The Fan. “I guess they thought that they were getting a little bit more than what they actually got. I guess you could blame them for potentially not putting him in right positions to succeed, or you could blame him himself for not really catching on and forcing him to put him on there. But it was just very William Jackson-like from last year.
“You thought you had something and he was on the field for like a moment. Then you realize you don’t. But if he’s not going to be a part of this team and just keep sitting on a bench, bring the kid over to who you liked in the draft off the practice squad and go with that. So that was basically the thought.”
To hear Kaboly talk about the impending King release, the Steelers are making a decision to move on from a veteran who hasn’t quite been what they were hoping for when they signed him ahead of the start of the season.
On top of that, the decision gives the Steelers an opportunity to bring in a rookie cornerback in Darius Rush, as reported by NFL Network Insider Tom Pelissero, off the practice squad of the Kansas City Chiefs, allowing the Steelers to get a good look at a long, athletic cornerback that they liked quite a bit in the pre-draft process.
The decision to move on from King was a bit puzzling initially as the Steelers never quite gave him a chance in the slot, an area the Steelers have really struggled at from a coverage standpoint this season with Chandon Sullivan having some issues. But, even with King’s resume it wasn’t enough to get him on the field defensively, and ultimately wasn’t enough to keep him in Pittsburgh.
With Rush reportedly coming in, we’ll see if the Steelers give the young piece an opportunity to develop and get on the field for them. They very clearly liked him in the draft, and he fits the mold of what the Steelers have looked for at the position in recent years.
