Former Kansas City Chiefs safety Juan Thornhill was waived by the Pittsburgh Steelers on Monday. This does not come as much of a surprise for a multitude of reasons. For starters, Pittsburgh acquired safety Kyle Dugger from the New England Patriots in a trade, so opportunities for Thornhill to earn consistent playing time decreased. However, when analyzing his play this season, it is not difficult to understand why the Steelers moved on.
According to Pro Football Focus, Thornhill ranked 91st among safeties, earning a minuscule mark of 36.9. While that appears bad enough on the surface, it is made worse considering there were 91 qualified NFL safeties in the grading model. So according to PFF, Thornhill has been the worst player at his position. While in some cases a small sample size could be the culprit of a player receiving an exceptionally poor (or high) grade, that excuse does not fly for Thornhill this season. The former Chief has played 317 defensive snaps this season and played a minimum of 20 snaps in each of the Steelers’ first seven games, and he played 50 or more snaps in seven of those games. Due to the acquisition of Dugger and his own performance, Thornhill played zero defensive snaps over the Steelers’ past two contests.
In their two games without Thornhill, Pittsburgh’s defense has turned a corner. In an upset win over the Colts, they forced six turnovers and surrendered just 10 points when the game was still competitive. While the Steelers did lose to the Chargers last Sunday night, it was no fault of the defense, as they allowed Los Angeles to score just 15 non–garbage-time points and held Justin Herbert to a negative EPA per play. In their seven games with Thornhill playing meaningful snaps, the Steelers’ defense allowed 30 points on three separate occasions, costing them dearly in consecutive losses to the Bengals and Packers. This is not to say the Virginia product was fully to blame for the Steelers’ early defensive struggles; however, the unit’s improvement since he was removed from the lineup is worth mentioning.
The Chiefs need to avoid any real consideration of bringing back Juan Thornhill this late in his career.
While one can debate how much stock should be put into Pro Football Focus’ grades, the Steelers’ higher-ups appear to agree with their assessment of Thornhill’s performance in 2025. In his weekly meeting with the media on Tuesday, Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin did not mince words when discussing his decision to waive the 30-year-old safety, stating, “The play wasn’t up to snuff.”
A second-round draft pick of the Chiefs back in 2019, Thornhill spent four seasons in Kansas City in which he started in two Super Bowls, winning one of them in 2022 over the Philadelphia Eagles. He was also a key part of the defensive backfield rotation in his rookie season before suffering a torn ACL in the regular-season finale against the Chargers. Thornhill’s play in his debut season earned him All-Rookie Team honors from the Pro Football Writers of America. In the Chiefs’ Super Bowl LVII victory, Thornhill played every defensive snap in his final game as a Chief. Despite some consideration that a reunion in Kansas City could be in play, that Super Bowl should remain Thornhill’s final game in a Chiefs uniform.
Under Brett Veach, the Chiefs have a history of bringing back former players who have struggled to find footing on new teams. JuJu Smith-Schuster, Derrick Nnadi, and Mike Pennel are players on the current roster who fit this bill. In the past, the Chiefs have retained players such as Mecole Hardman and Stefen Wisniewski after brief stints elsewhere. While in some cases these moves have paid off (Hardman scored the game-winning touchdown in Super Bowl LVIII), there is little to no point in bringing Thornhill back to Kansas City.
As evidenced by his PFF metrics, as well as Tomlin’s blunt assessment of his play, there would be minimal upside from an on-field standpoint. While Thornhill was once a solid starter on championship teams, those days appear to be in the rearview, considering PFF has evaluated him as the league’s worst safety this season. Additionally, this would diminish the playing time of Bryan Cook, Chamarri Conner, and Jaden Hicks, all of whom are younger and—especially in Cook’s case—better players. Cook in particular has been notably good this season, as his 75.0 PFF grade ranks in the top ten among safeties.
Juan Thornhill had a very solid career in Kansas City and was a relevant player on three teams that reached the Super Bowl, two of which won it. However, his age, current performance, and overall lack of fit in the safety room should sway the Chiefs away from a reunion. While it has been understandable when Veach and the front office have retained old friends in the past, retaining Thornhill would not fall under that category.