Player: CJ Jalen Ramsey
Stock Value: Purchased
Reasoning: Jalen Ramsey, as everybody expected five months ago, is a member of the Pittsburgh Steelers for the 2025 season. As part of a trade that sent Minkah Fitzpatrick to Miami, he now adds a strong third cornerback to their defensive backfield. In Pittsburgh, however, he may play a little bit of everything in the secondary, including safety.
Jalen Ramsey made his career as an elite boundary cornerback, earning three first-team All-Pro selections along the way. While he should still see time there, it’s unclear exactly how the Steelers envision him. Having traded their Pro Bowl starting free safety, they have a hole—but also options.
One option is to play Juan Thornhill there in sub-packages, which is the majority of the time. In “base” defense, Ramsey could potentially slide back to safety, and otherwise play in the slot. Joey Porter Jr. and Darius Slay are more traditionally boundary corners, so it may be best to leave them there.
With Ramsey, at least, he has experience playing in the slot, and even at safety, even if it’s not extensive. He does have probably over 1,000 snaps logged in the slot, but safety is different. He has in the past, however, expressed an explicit interest in finishing his career there. Soon to be 31 in October, is that where he sees himself at this stage?
The Steelers will have to figure it out, one way or another, but they have started in the right place. With Jalen Ramsey, they have added a good to very good player. Good teams figure out how to get their best players out there, and he will be one of them.
Over the past four seasons, Ramsey has 13 interceptions, so he still has ball skills. Interceptions were never necessarily the defining trait of his game, though. While he can take the ball away, he is more about shutting a wide receiver down.
That’s what the Steelers want Joey Porter Jr. to be, and now he has two of the best to learn from. Ramsey and Slay are past their primes, but you could hardly ask for better mentors. Slay even wants to put together a Cornerback University the way other position groups have. He and Ramsey can get that going in the Steelers’ own locker room, perhaps.
With the new league year underway and the Steelers turning their roster over, it’s once again time to “take stock”. It took a while, but we finally saw some of that change the team talked about after the season ended. Certainly, the move to trade for WR DK Metcalf qualifies as a change, not to mention the accompanying contract. Oh, and they also traded some guy named George Pickens, which people found significant.
There is still a long way to go before we know what this Steelers team is going to look like. The dust is settled on both free agency and the 2025 NFL Draft. What other moves might the team make, perhaps unexpected acquisitions or departures? If they traded for one player, they could certainly trade for another, or trade one away. This is a Steelers team starving for postseason success, but how desperate are they for a playoff win in 2025?
