Exit Meeting: CB Cory Trice Jr.
Experience: 3 Years
Hey, remember Cory Trice Jr? The young cornerback everyone was excited about who lives on the Reserve/Injured list? Through three seasons, Trice has dressed for six games, injured for the rest of them. And for the vast majority of the time he didn’t play, he languished on IR.
A 2023 seventh-round draft pick, Cory Trice was seen as a cornerback with high physical upside. But he also had a low floor of availability, and he’s fallen through that floor. So far, he has spent two entire seasons on IR—his rookie year and last year.
Having torn his ACL in college, Trice tore his other ACL in 2023. While he played in 2024 and even showed some promise—the highlight of his career thus far is an end-zone interception against the Broncos in Week 2 that year—he hasn’t played a game since the end of that season.
Last season, Cory Trice suffered a hamstring injury in training camp. It lingered enough for the Steelers to put him on IR, but it wasn’t enough to end his season. After opening his practice window, however, he didn’t last long. Once back on the practice field, he suffered another knee injury. We’ve never gained specific details, but it was obviously enough that he couldn’t return within the practice window.
For his part, Trice has remained the eternal optimist, or at least confident in his natural abilities. He understands that his body has betrayed him, but he has continued to push forward. Despite the series of injury setbacks, he remains committed to his career.
The problem is the coaching staff that was committed to him is gone. Mike Tomlin and Teryl Austin loved Cory Trice, but they’re not here anymore. Tomlin resigned, and nearly the whole entire coaching staff went with him. Now it’s Mike McCarthy and a very different group here.
And the Steelers have added some significant pieces to the secondary in free agency already. Even assuming Cory Trice can get through an entire offseason healthy, will he have a roster spot? They have Joey Porter Jr., Jamel Dean, Jalen Ramsey, Asante Samuel Jr., and Brandin Echols at cornerback. They also have Donte Kent and D’Shawn Jamison, for that matter. So why are they going to continue sitting around waiting for the guy who’s never healthy?
The Pittsburgh Steelers find themselves licking their wounds after yetanother early playoff exit. This is a repeated pattern for the organization, but with major change coming. As the Steelers conduct their own exit meetings, we willgo down the roster conducting our own. Who should stay, and who should go, and how? Who should expect a bigger role next season, and who might deserve a new contract? The resignation of Mike Tomlin makes those questions much more difficult to answer, but much more important. We’ll explore those questions and more in these articles, part of an annual series.
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