Shortly after trading for wide receiver Michael Pittman Jr., Pittsburgh Steelers GM Omar Khan followed it up with another splash move on Monday. He reached an agreement with free agent cornerback Jamel Dean on a three-year deal, giving the Steelers a major answer at a position of need.
After losing James Pierre to the Minnesota Vikings earlier in the day and re-signing Asante Samuel Jr. early Monday morning, Dean gives Pittsburgh another big, physical cornerback opposite Joey Porter Jr. — and a nice tandem for new defensive coordinator Patrick Graham to build around in the secondary.
Steelers and Dean are one of Pro Football Focus’s five most intriguing player-team pairings from the first day of the legal tampering window. They join along Tyler Linderbaum and the Las Vegas Raiders, Kenneth Walker III and the Kansas City Chiefs, Devin Bush and the Chicago Bears, and Devin Lloyd and the Carolina Panthers.
With Dean, the Steelers now have two cornerbacks who can get physical with receivers and shut them down and thrive in Graham’s Cover 3-heavy coverage scheme handling deep-third responsibilities.
“Since the start of 2023, Porter and Dean rank second and third, respectively, in the number of snaps where they played a deep-third assignment in coverage. The only player ahead of them was Zyon McCollum, Dean’s Tampa Bay teammate,” PFF’s Dalton Wasserman writes. “Among 112 cornerbacks with at least 100 such snaps in that span, Dean and Porter both rank among the top 20 in FF coverage grade when playing a deep-third role.
“Pittsburgh still needs to improve its coverage over the middle of the field, but the team should feel confident in its cornerback room with the addition of Dean.”
Dean has been connected to the Steelers since the end of the season due to Pittsburgh’s need opposite Porter and Dean’s style of play. He’s long and physical, and he has some intriguing ball skills, something the Steelers’ secondary could really use.
He’s a strong tackler, too, and won’t make many mistakes. The only real concern with Dean is durability as he’s missed a number of games over the years. He’s a scrappy cornerback who fits exactly what the Steelers were looking for, and he should fit in well in Graham’s scheme as a pass defender who can play on an island.
Though it was reported as a three-year deal worth more than $36 million, it’s essentially a one-year deal based on structure, which is a good bit of business by the Steelers. Hopefully he can continue to play at a strong level like he did in 2025.
Recommended for you