The rumor mill has been active in Pittsburgh Steelers media in recent days. Some think they didn’t do enough to upgrade their secondary this offseason, and that’s where rumors have cropped up about the Steelers’ potential interest in cornerbacks like Jaire Alexander and Jalen Ramsey.
Alexander ended up signing with the Baltimore Ravens and subsequent reports have revealed a couple of the other interested teams. Notably, the Steelers were missing from that list, according to ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler on Saturday morning. If they were interested in upgrading their cornerback position, don’t you think they would have been heavily involved in making an offer for Alexander?
Fowler’s report wasn’t necessarily an exhaustive list, but just the teams that Alexander was considering. To me, the lack of significant buzz for Pittsburgh is telling of the Steelers’ rumored interest in Ramsey. Why would they skip over the cheap one-year free agent deal for a 28-year old and go straight to the expensive nearly 31-year-old that needs to be traded for?
The Steelers were very careful in their offseason approach to stockpile as many 2026 NFL Draft picks as possible. General manager Omar Khan even admitted that it informed some of their decision making in free agency. Instead of pursuing the biggest-name free agents, they added from the list of players that weren’t going to tank their comp pick formula. Darius Slay is a great example as he was released by the Eagles and therefore did not count against the formula.
The rumors linking them to cornerbacks never made much sense to begin with. They aren’t going to move Joey Porter Jr. off his starting position in a potential contract year, and they aren’t paying Slay $10 million to mentor Porter and sit on the bench. Adding another expensive corner into the mix has the potential to create unnecessary tension in the locker room.
Even if the Steelers are trying to go all-in on Aaron Rodgers for one year, there is probably money and draft capital better spent at other positions like wide receiver. I wouldn’t get your hopes up too high for the Steelers to trade for Jalen Ramsey if I were you.
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