Coming off a season where the defense carried the team through most of the year, the Pittsburgh Steelers improved the unit this offseason.
Pittsburgh returns standout defenders like Joey Porter Jr. and Minkah Fitzpatrick, but has added some new pieces as well.
One of those pieces is exciting some of the veterans.
Pittsburgh added cornerback Darius Slay this offseason in free agency on a one-year, $10 million deal with just under $9 million guaranteed in his signing bonus.
Slay played a pivotal part in the Philadelphia Eagles' Super Bowl championship season and helped mold young players on the roster last year.
Pittsburgh hopes Slay can do the same for the Steelers' young players in the upcoming season.
Porter Jr. talked about Slay on Thursday and discussed his impact so far.
"I told him when he got here, I'm always going to be in his ear," Porter said. "It's just a little simple conversation we have with just certain plays that I see, or ask him if he's seen it differently, or what would you do in these different types of situations. I'm always gonna ask him to be in his ear about that, and he's a great guy, 'cause he's always gonna give me knowledge on the game, and that's what he really wants to do. So it's been great."
Porter has already shown he has great potential in the NFL, but he still has a long way to go to reach that potential. Slay could be a key piece of helping the Steelers' secondary return to greatness with a lot of young talent on the roster.