Late Tuesday night, the Pittsburgh Steelers agreed to sign veteran S Darnell Savage to a one-year deal. Providing safety depth, what type of player is Pittsburgh adding to its defense? Let’s break it down.
Run Defense/Tackling
Savage isn’t a particularly big or built player but plays with appropriate aggressiveness and chase. A downhill player, he closes ground underneath and takes away the quick passing game. Examples of him erasing throws in the flat off play-action.
He is No. 25 in all the clips except for the ones with Jacksonville. With the Jaguars, he wore No. 6.
Playing in sub-packages and passing situations for part of 2025, his recent run defense tape is more limited. But he’ll throw his body around and look to finish plays and prevent piles from falling forward.
Negatively, Savage’s angles leave plenty to be desired. He doesn’t always play inside out and can overrun the ball, causing him to miss tackles.
Per Pro Football Reference, Savage had a 16.7-percent missed tackle rate last year. Three whiffs on 18 total attempts.
Coverage
Savage is versatile. Even on limited 2025 snaps, he played split safety, post safety, slot corner, and in the box. That’s reflective of what he’s been able to do throughout his career.
Savage is still reasonably athletic. Despite a lack of size, he’s willing to challenge and man up against tight ends.
But he’s prone to biting on fakes and double moves. In the first clip, he takes the cheese on the goal-line run, leaving the tight end open in the flat.
In the second, he gives up the double move on the out ‘n up. The route was near the sticks, a good sell from the offense, but the Jaguars were up 23-3. All Savage had to prevent was getting beat deep, and only a less-than-stellar throw bailed him out.
In the playoffs, he played just three snaps in Buffalo’s Divisional Round loss and was promptly beat for touchdown after overrunning this crossing route.
Savage showed his best clips coming downhill to break on the ball. Multiple breakups challenging underneath throws.
Different outlets report varying numbers, but they aren’t pretty either way. Pro Football Reference charges Savage for three touchdowns in 2025. Pro Football Focus charges him for four touchdowns across 171 coverage snaps.
Usage
Quick recap on Savage’s 2025 journey where he played for three teams. Savage began the season with the Jacksonville Jaguars, originally signing a 3-year, $21.75 million deal ahead of the 2024 season.
Jacksonville released Savage in mid-September. He quickly signed with the Washington Commanders and spent half the season there. Savage asked the team to release him in early December. Washington obliged and Savage was claimed by the Buffalo Bills, starting the regular season finale as the team rested its starters.
In total, Savage played 268 defensive snaps last year. He logged 146 at free safety, 83 in the box, and 21 in the slot, with the couple of others assorted elsewhere.
For his seven-year career, Savage has played nearly 3,000 free safety snaps. He’s logged 1,343 in the box and 1,145 in the slot.
His special teams value is minor. Just 364 career snaps, 100 of them coming as a rookie in 2019, with limited usage since. In 2025, Savage saw some work on kick coverage and punt return team (some on the line as a rusher, a little bit as a vice) and as an NFL backup, he’ll need to continue wearing those hats to stick on a roster going forward. But he’s a two-phase guy with just average value.
Final Thoughts
Savage is still reasonably athletic, versatile, experienced, and aggressive. But his play is below-average. He’s best coming downhill to fill the run and making tackles. In space, his angles are poor and he’s too often beat on double-moves and advanced routes.
Ideally, he’s a No. 4 safety behind Jalen Ramsey, Deshon Elliott, and a Day One/Day Two draft pick. His veteran experience helps and gives Pittsburgh a semblance of depth before the draft. He’s also more rangy and athletic than last year’s options of Kyle Dugger and Chuck Clark. Still, there’s a reason why Savage is signing for the minimum. It’s an inoffensive signing, but the Steelers still must address safety early in the draft.
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