It’s one of those moments where last week’s Read & React — the Steelers’ defensive issues against the Bengals — could just be copy and pasted into this week’s edition.
But to avoid repeating ourselves too
much, this time around we’ll be looking ahead at the NFL trade deadline on Nov. 4 along with our usual gripes. Could some savvy wheeling and dealing offer some answers to the struggling Steelers? And it appears the team has gone to the well already with Monday’s addition of former Patriots safety Kyle Dugger.
Should the Steelers pursue more trades after acquiring safety Kyle Dugger? If so, at what position?
RP: If the Steelers are hoping to change their fortunes via trade, then there are two position groups that stand out like a sore thumb: receiver and the secondary at large.
The Steelers offense isn’t a juggernaut by any means, and certainly could benefit from adding one or more playmakers, but to me the secondary is the most glaring need. We’ll address how poorly the Steelers secondary has played in further detail in the next question, but I don’t think I’m telling any tales when I say the Steelers have been abysmal in pass coverage.
That’s a pretty hard pill to swallow given how the Steelers’ public messaging all summer was about how “historically good” this defense could be. The premise that Pittsburgh’s front office sold and seemed to buy into themselves was that the pass rush was still elite enough that the defense could still be the engine of this team with just a few tweaks.
To their credit, the Steelers took a big swing trading away Minkah Fitzpatrick and bringing in Jalen Ramsey. But the rest of their moves have been disappointing.
The Steelers went cheap at cornerback signing Brandin Echols and 34-year-old Darius Slay. Ryland and I both expressed heavy skepticism that Slay had anything left in the tank (more on him later) and he’s done little to prove those doubts wrong. Meanwhile, Echols hasn’t played poorly, but 124 of his 221 snaps (56.1%) on defense came in Week 3 and 4, with the Steelers refusing to mix things up outside.
Unfortunately, I’m not sure there are many options out there.
The names I’ve seen floated around are Seattle’s Riq Woolen, Tennessee’s L’Jarius Sneed, New Orlean’s Alontae Taylor, and the Jet’s Michael Carter II.
Woolen is the most intriguing of the bunch, with his combination of age (26), size (6’4, 33 ⅝” arms), and speed (4.26 40-yard dash). However, he’s up for a contract extension, would not improve the tackling woes of the secondary (seven missed tackles this year and 42 in four seasons), and is giving up the highest passer rating when targeted (98.9) of his career.
Sneed is in the same boat as Woolen, currently surrendering a passer rating of 137.7, and he’s due $15 million-plus over the next two seasons. Carter (99.2) and Taylor (111.8) aren’t faring much better, and both primarily play in the slot, which is where Ramsey has been his best this year. Taylor also has an expiring contract, and Carter has been out since Week 4 with concussion symptoms. In Carter’s absence, the Jets traded for one of my 2024 draft gems, Jarvis Brownlee Jr., and have been impressed by his performance, making Carter and his $10 million AAV expendable.
At safety, the Steelers haven’t been much better. DeShon Elliott has been the lone bright spot, and he’s now either likely done for the year or week-to-week with a knee injury, depending on whether you believe Jeremy Fowler’s reporting or Mike Tomlin’s press conferences are more accurate.
The Steelers have already addressed the safety group with a trade Tuesday evening for Kyle Dugger. Funnily enough, I had already written my answer to this question before the trade. Like me, it appears the Steelers stared down a rotation of Juan Thornhill, Chuck Clark, and Jabrill Peppers and said “Yikes.” Each of those players has been varying levels of bad in coverage and tackling, so it’s hard to fault the Steelers for at least trying to inject more life into the mix.
That said, while Dugger was the name I thought was most likely for Pittsburgh, he is more of a box safety and not someone I think will make a major positive impact on the Steelers coverage woes. He’s allowed a catch on all six of his targets this year, giving up 87 yards and a 118.8 passer rating. There’s a reason he ceded playing time to Day 3 rookie – and another one of my draft gems – Craig Woodson.
But, in Dugger’s favor, he is a better tackler than Clark and Thornhill, so he might be able to prevent more YAC than them. Dugger should also be a positive in the running game. PFF has credited him with four stops this year, giving him a run defense grade of 73.6 which is a good figure on their grading scale.
The Steelers could arguably use another safety opposite of Dugger, but most of the other safety names I’m seeing “rumored” are seemingly more rooted in wishcasting from fans looking at teams with bad records than they are based on any credible reporting about a player’s availability.
Among those names are Justin Reid, Budda Baker, Armani Hooker, Xavier Woods, and Quandre Diggs. Reid would be the most appealing to me as a true free safety, but he just signed a three-year deal with the Saints this offseason, so I would be shocked to see him moved.
Overall, I don’t see many good options for the Steelers. I wrote earlier this year that the Steelers roster building plan has felt aimless in recent years. Sure they’ve tried to attack the offensive line, and they made splash moves in trading for D.K. Metcalf, Ramsey, and Jonnu Smith, but those moves have felt out of sync with the rest of the roster’s development.
Last year the Steelers essentially lit picks on fire to trade for Preston Smith and Mike Williams, and then barely utilized them before saying their goodbyes this winter. Sure, the Steelers only gave up Day 3 picks to get them, but for a team that is famously stingy about paying big contracts to acquire outside talent, those picks represent lost chances at finding potential impact rotational players or even starters at a cheap cost. That’s a big part of maintaining roster health in the modern NFL.
Now they’ve traded a sixth-round pick for Dugger who has already had the final two years of his deal voided following the move, per Ian Rapoport.
It feels like another desperate short-term solution at the cost of rejuvenating an aging roster through the draft.
For a team lacking offensive playmakers and young secondary talent, which of these sounds like a better plan for transitioning into the next era?
- Attempting to develop younger talent who have cheaper contracts due to their draft slot?
- Or slapping on a few expensive aging contracts via trade and supplementing that by paying cheaply for older, slower players with no long-term future in Pittsburgh in free agency? Both of which involve players that had their previous teams ready to move on from them?
I prefer the former, because I don’t think this team is good enough to make a serious playoff run. It’s no guarantee that draft picks will hit – especially with how questionably Tomlin and his staff have been at developing talent in recent years – but at least there is some hope at winning the numbers game that is the draft.
There is little hope in pinching pennies for players like Slay, Thornhill, and Clark, which has produced predictable results. And any positive boost from players like Ramsey and Dugger feels fleeting, and a little desperate.
RB: As Ryan covered defensive back in depth (and I largely agree), I’ll focus on the wide receiver side of things.
But I’ll mention the Dugger trade a bit first (This is Steelers Read & React after all). Like Ryan, I feel rather lukewarm about it, but there are some positives. At 29 years old, Dugger isn’t a player just entering his prime, but it’s nice to see a Steelers outside addition on the right side of 30 for once, even if it’s just by a year.
My main worry was that the Steelers would overpay for short-term help on what already seems like a sinking ship on defense, and in this case, it doesn’t appear to be a huge deal.
And as Ryan alluded to, the final two years of Dugger’s deal have not only been wiped out, but the Patriots are also paying “most” of his remaining base salary this season as well, per a report from NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport.
And per NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero, the trade is just a Day 3 pick swap with Pittsburgh getting Dugger and a seventh while the Patriots get a sixth.
We’ll still have to see the final cap numbers, but that’s about as cheap as it gets. Ultimately, while I’m not a big fan of repeatedly band-aiding the defense, that’s the price I’d be willing to pay for that sort of move.
Dugger’s coverage tape isn’t all that inspiring, but he does bring the sort of aggressiveness and want-to the Steelers need more of in their secondary, especially without DeShon Elliott.
And here’s some effort by the goal line:
After playing with an ankle injury in 2024 and getting surgery this offseason, Dugger just isn’t that fluid of a mover in open space anymore. He doesn’t fix the speed problem on the back end of Pittsburgh’s defense much, if at all.
Still, while it’s a trade for a recognizable name, the current version of the player (and price) make this a fairly low stakes, inoffensive move – honestly, not all that different from the earlier signing of Jabrill Peppers.
As for other positions the Steelers could address at the deadline, offensive line depth is a need but good players who fit that description are almost never available in November. You could maybe point to the defensive line as well after the Daniel Ekuale injury, but the Steelers invested in Derrick Harmon and Yahya Black in the draft and need to keep giving them playing time.
That leaves wide receiver. As the trade deadline approaches, I think there’s a bit more of a chance for a splash move here than some expect. Insiders such as Ian Rapoport continue to say that Pittsburgh is in the market for a receiver. And head coach Mike Tomlin continues to criticize his offense just as much as the defense.
It feels good to doubt the NFL insiders and their reports that often feel a lot more like deliberate team or agent leaks, but under Omar Khan’s leadership, there has often been plenty of fire to back up the smoke surrounding the Pittsburgh front office: D.K. Metcalf, Jonnu Smith, Jalen Ramsey – even the Russell Wilson and Justin Fields news in 2024.
That’s not to say Pittsburgh definitely will add a receiver, but I certainly believe they are poking around. To me, the Marquez Valdes-Scantling addition (which will now apparently happen next week) was in a similar vein to the Dugger signing: Recognizable name. Nothing major. Probably very cheap. And it doesn’t rule out something bigger.
The question then becomes: Should the Steelers pursue a wide receiver trade?
My answer remains what it’s been most of this season: For the right deal and player, sure.
Again, I don’t think this Steelers roster has shown it is remotely close to Super Bowl contending at this point in the season – and the offense is not exactly the biggest problem. So burning through cap space that can be rolled over or draft picks that can help future seasons to help this current team just doesn’t make sense.
But several of the receivers rumored to be available are still solidly under 30 and looking for new contracts. If the Steelers can get a reasonable deal in terms of trade compensation, I don’t have a big issue with trying to build a strong receiver duo for the future. With the offensive line project starting to come together, it’s the next logical step of the long-term offensive plan.
Of those potential receivers, I’d rule out A.J. Brown and Jaylen Waddle as I think there’s little-to-no chance either gets dealt (especially Brown) and the Steelers offense doesn’t use its wide receivers enough to justify the cost of either. (I think Chris Olave and Brain Thomas Jr. fall under the same category, more or less).
There’s also the flip side. Especially with the Valdes-Scantling news, the Steelers don’t need a Tyler Lockett, Allen Lazard, Tyler Boyd, etc. if available. That doesn’t help them much in the short or long term.
But the Raiders’ Jakobi Meyers (soon-to-be 29 years old) and the Saints’ Rashid Shaheed (recently 27) both make some sense to me if they are indeed available.
Meyers is on the last year of a three-year, $33 million contract in Las Vegas, and he wants out. He’s been productive over his career, with four straight 800-plus yard seasons starting in 2021.
At 6′ 2, 193 pounds, he has stereotypical receiver size and has proven over his career he can get open.
What I appreciate about Meyers is that his game doesn’t have any gimmicks. He’s just a solid all-around WR2 type with developed route-running, solid speed, a clear football IQ, and good hands. He has inside-outside versatility, too.
With a very public trade request and on a team that might’ve already given up on 2025, a Meyers trade feels more than possible.
Shaheed isn’t as proven as Meyers, but he had a career-high 719 receiving yards in 2024 and is currently on a cheap one-year, $5.2 million contract. As a 6’0, 280-pound speedster, he falls into the same category as a number of current Steeler receivers, but I’d argue Shaheed would instantly be the second-best pass catcher on the Pittsburgh offense.
He’s most known as a deep threat, entering 2024 with a career average of over 16.5 yards per catch. However, he’s developed into one of the league’s most underrated receivers and is much more of a multi-level threat in 2025. He’s a great athlete with solid hands and sharp route-running. His 431 receiving yards this year would be a lot more if he wasn’t on a tough-to-watch Saints offense.
Sometimes, you have to look beyond the player archetype and just recognize Shaheed is simply a good football player.
Would he be available? The Saints, like the Raiders, have good reason to punt on their season, and there’s been some smoke around New Orleans being sellers at the deadline.
To wrap up another long-winded Read & React segment, I’m not opposed to Pittsburgh making more trades. But it would need to be incredibly cheap if it’s a short-term fix – and if anything else, it has to prioritize the team’s long-term vision.
Still though, I would hesitate to part with any significant draft capital. The Steelers need all the ammo they can get to keep their quarterback options open this offseason, and the team needs more high-impact players on rookie contracts in the first place.
If Shaheed or Meyers can be had for something around a fourth-round pick and their contract demands are reasonable, go for it. Anything else, and the Steelers need to stay put and wait until 2026 to keep making splash moves.
The secondary, sold as a team strength, has been one of the biggest weak spots for the Steelers. What changes do you think should be made?
RP: I rambled quite a bit about the disappointing secondary above so I’ll try to keep this one a bit shorter.
For starters, Darius Slay should stop seeing the football field. On the season, he’s allowed 20 of his 28 targets to be caught, surrendering 218 yards for 106.0 passer rating. On first downs, QBs that target him have a passer rating of 114.9 and third downs that figure is 114.2.
But even more maddening is his attempts at “tackling.” PFF has credited Slay with seven missed tackles this season, and I’d argue that number doesn’t do justice to how often he appears to be loafing and making business decisions when an opponent gets loose in the secondary.
While we’re calling the effort police, Chuck Clark and Juan Thornhill both have five missed tackles (and again I’d argue it’s more) per PFF. Joey Porter Jr. is credited with three, another figure I’d contest with the amount of arm tackles we’ve seen opponents break out of on his watch.
PFF grades aren’t gospel and have their flaws, but they have the Steelers graded as the seventh worst team in pass coverage with only the Dolphins, 49ers, Bills, Commanders, Raiders and Cowboys rated lower.
You’ve watched the same games I have, do you have any strong contentions against PFF’s claim? Me neither.
The Steelers look old and slow on the back end. Players appear to be constantly trying to sort out assignments right up until the snap, which is ridiculous considering the Steelers really only run two concepts 62% of the time, and rarely disguise what they’re trying to do.
Rotating coverages more post snap might help, but with the Steelers still struggling with communicating assignments, that might only confuse things further. Scrounging practice squads and free agency for safeties might present upgrades over Thornhill and Clark, but that’s asking a lot for someone to come off the street at this point in the season.
I don’t mean to sound so defeatist, but I’m really not sure there is much that will improve the current condition of the secondary. My best suggestions are giving Echols and Cory Trice Jr. more run outside in place of Slay. Echols has allowed a passer rating of 58.8 and just 13 receptions against 21 targets. Hell, even James Pierre has allowed just one catch against six targets for the best passer rating allowed on the team (39.6), granted that’s an incredibly small sample size and we’ve seen him picked on in years past.
At safety, Jabrill Peppers has a limited sample size as well – just one catch allowed on four targets for a passer rating of 52.1 – that I don’t think would sustain, but has to be better than what we’ve seen from Clark and Thornhill. The only issue is that he and Duggers are cut from a similar cloth, so having two box safeties on the field could be a problem. Maybe the Steelers could try rotating Ramsey to safety occasionally, but they’ve been hesitant to do so, giving him just 44 snaps there thus far.
Still, the Steelers should be trying anything and everything they can to right the ship. Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. Tomlin and the Steelers have been maddeningly adverse to change for years. But honestly, with how bad the Steelers secondary has been the past two weeks, what more do they have to lose?
RB: Like Ryan, I’ll also keep my thoughts short on this one out of respect to your time. Plus, I already wrote an abbreviated version of my answer in Monday’s “Let’s talk Steelers,” which asked what Pittsburgh should do at safety (Spoiler alert, the team answered with “Kyle Dugger”).
As Ryan wrote, keeping Darius Slay and Chuck Clark off the field more are musts. If the big-money veterans aren’t performing, it’s better to see what the shiny new toys (Dugger, Jabrill Peppers) and younger names (Brandin Echols, Cory Trice Jr., James Pierre) can do instead.
The results might not be great, but the bar is at the bottom of the Allegheny. Just try something new, please.
Schematically, what the Steelers are doing hasn’t been working, either. The team needs to be blitzing less and running more match concepts so we stop seeing so many defensive backs getting dusted or simply covering grass. But as Ryan pointed out, the easy-to-see communication issues make any more complicated schematic changes a big ask.
There’s really no easy fix for the secondary in-season. In 2026, the team will need to revamp the personnel and should part ways with coordinator Teryl Austin. But for now, while there might be some minor improvements down the road, I don’t think much can – or will – change.
Join in on Steelers R&R by sharing your takes on this week’s topics. How can the Steelers fix their defense? Should they still be buyers at the trade deadline? Feel free to pitch future questions in the comment section or on Twitter/X: tag @_Ryland_B or @RyanParishMedia, or email us at steelersreadnreact@gmail.com.
