The Pittsburgh Steelers haven't made a ton of moves so far in free agency, but the ones they have made have been calculated. Buying low on Michael Pittman Jr. via trade, paying veteran cornerback Jamel Dean a reasonable amount on a three-year deal, and adding back-to-back 1,000-yard rusher Rico Dowdle have raised the floor on both sides of the ball.
Their latest move, however, has the potential to raise the ceiling. According to NFL Network's Ian Rapoport, the Steelers have signed former Chicago Bears safety Jaquan Brisker to a surprisingly cheap one-year, $5.5 million deal. He joins a safety room that now has three capable starters with DeShon Elliott and Jalen Ramsey, giving new defensive coordinator Patrick Graham plenty of flexibility in the secondary.
Signing a player with Brisker's experience for just $5.5 million feels like a huge steal, and it very well could be. The one concern, however, is his durability.
Jaquan Brisker will be a massive steal for the Pittsburgh Steelers if he can stay healthy
Brisker was a solid starter for the entirety of his career with the Chicago Bears when he was healthy, but that wasn't as often as he or the team would have liked. He suffered multiple concussions while playing for Chicago, the worst of which ended his season after just five games in 2024. He was able to play all 17 regular-season games and both playoff games a year ago, so the hope is that his concussion issues are in the past.
Even if Brisker can stay healthy, his fit with the Steelers could be a bit clunky. Assuming Elliott can make a strong comeback from his knee injury in 2025, he will likely resume his role as the starting box safety. Ramsey, meanwhile, should be the team's starting free safety. That could leave Brisker as the primary backup at both spots, only being used in dime packages or in specific three-safety looks.
The one caveat to that would be a potential return to the slot for Ramsey, where he struggled to begin last season. I would have serious reservations about that move, and Brisker is better suited to playing in the box even if that was the plan. Having two safeties who are not ideal deep coverage players and an aging slot defender sounds like a recipe for disaster.
That begs the question: could one of Elliott or Ramsey be on their way out? Ramsey is the obvious one to consider, between his massive cap hit ($19.5 million) and declining athleticism. Pittsburgh could still likely get a Day 3 pick from a team looking for a steady presence in their secondary.
In all likelihood, Brisker was brought on as both insurance for Elliott coming off of his injury and as a piece of the puzzle for Graham to utilize in his defense. For the price they paid, that's all he has to be.