The Pittsburgh Steelers love a good reunion. Terrell Edmunds is the latest player to drive through the Fort Pitt Tunnel again. The team signed Edmunds off the Jacksonville Jaguars’ practice squad, adding him as safety depth and probable special teams help. Speaking to the media Tuesday, Mike Tomlin explained why they brought him back.
“As a guy that knows us, a guy that we know,” Tomlin told reporters via the team’s YouTube channel. “During the course of this thing, particularly at this stage of the journey, you can’t have enough of those scenarios. Might not be a significant need right now but it might be a different scenario a few weeks from now.”
Edmunds’ signing was made official Tuesday, the seventh-year veteran taking the place of P Cameron Johnston, who was shifted to IR with a season-ending knee injury.
Edmunds was the team’s surprise first-round pick selection in 2018, taken 28th overall when may draftniks viewed him as a second-round selection. He started the next five years in Pittsburgh, making 75 starts. He failed to live up to the first-round hype, a good athlete but mediocre coverage player who struggled to create big plays, but Edmunds continually improved throughout his career. He developed strong chemistry with FS Minkah Fitzpatrick, and as the box safety allowed Fitzpatrick to play in space and impact the passing game.
“When we got guys that we know fit, that understand this environment, that we know are capable of helping us and we have an opportunity to do business,” Tomlin said of Edmunds’ appeal. “Whether there’s a tremendous need or not, we have an interest.”
Since exiting Pittsburgh, Edmunds has had a bumpy career. He turned down a Steelers offer to sign a one-year deal with the cross-state Philadelphia Eagles ahead of the 2023 season. But he was traded to the Tennessee Titans mid-way through the year. A free agent in March, it took until May before he inked a contract with the Jacksonville Jaguars. He failed to make their 53 but was signed to the practice squad and elevated to the active roster for Week 1, dressing and playing six snaps in a loss to the Miami Dolphins.
With SS DeShon Elliott signed in the offseason, Edmunds may struggle to find defensive playing time. But he could provide quality depth should Elliott go down with injury, creating a seamless transition as next man up. In the meantime, Edmunds could get a hat and play on special teams. Considering how beat up the Steelers became at safety last year, having a known and experienced option like Edmunds is smart practice. And that was essentially Tomlin’s point.
