Whether the Steelers view DB Jalen Ramsey as a safety is a matter of conjecture, but Ramsey himself believes he can do it. Indeed, over the years, he has expressed a desire to play safety, perhaps even full-time one day. Perhaps the clearest example comes from a podcast interview he gave back in 2021.
“Me personally, my style is like Charles [Woodson]”, Ramsey said on the Million Dollaz Worth of Game podcast hosted by “rapper Gillie Da King and social media influencer and disruptor Wallo267”, which is definitely a sentence that I knew I would write one day. He chose Woodson over Deion Sanders.
“I saw Charles as the best defensive back to play the game. Because he played multiple positions in the secondary. He played corner; he played safety; he played nickel”, Ramsey said. “He did a bunch of different stuff, and he affected the game in so many different ways”.
He wants to have that kind of impact on the game, as well, which is not new to him. During his freshman year at Florida State, the year they won the national title, he played safety primarily. The following season, he spent most of his time in the slot before mostly playing outside in 2015. Yet when he declared for the draft, many scouts viewed safety as his best NFL position.
Drafted fifth overall by the Jacksonville Jaguars, Jalen Ramsey largely stayed outside there. But when he went to the Los Angeles Rams, he welcomed a shift in his duties. “That’s kind of the role that I started to be in a little bit”, Ramsey said. “Here and there, they’re starting to let me be me a little bit more, mixing in a little bit of nickel”.
“And then at some point in my career, if it takes me there to safety, I want to do that as well. But I want to have a mix of all that”.
Although the Rams and Dolphins still primarily kept Ramsey outside, he saw hundreds of snaps in the slot. However, his experience lining up at safety has been negligible at best. He actually played more at safety with the Jaguars than he has since.
Ramsey participated in this interview entering his sixth season, 26 years old at the time of airing. He is now 30 years old, so is he at that point where he feels comfortable making that adjustment to safety? During the same interview, he said at the time, “I would have no problems with moving to safety”, speaking about his ability to play there rather than his desire. “I mean, I love corner right now—the corner money’s better. I’m cool where I’m at”.
Right now, the Steelers are paying Jalen Ramsey like a cornerback. In 2024, he signed a three-year, $72 million extension with the Dolphins. We still don’t know all the financial details stemming from the trade, but presumably, Pittsburgh is inheriting most of this.
Ramsey’s contract moving forward is manageable, make no mistake about that. But is this a contract the Steelers would pay him if they viewed him purely as a safety? Maybe they don’t see him occupying that role exclusively this year, but what about 2026 or 2027?
At the very least, we know Jalen Ramsey has safety experience, believes he can play safety in the NFL, and is open to doing so. On the wrong side of 30, losing a step is only a matter of time. Will he close out his career like Charles Woodson—or Rod Woodson, for that matter—making a second career there?
