The Pittsburgh Steelers’ starters at safety should be set, with Jalen Ramsey and DeShon Elliott set to open the season as starters. Jaquan Brisker will also see plenty of playing time, but what happens behind those three will be one of the team’s most interesting position battles.
The Steelers signed veteran Darnell Savage, bring back Sebastian Castro and drafted Robert Spears-Jennings. For reference, last season the Steelers went into Week 1 with four safeties on the roster, while they kept five initially in 2024, but rostered four for the majority of the season.
There’s a chance the Steelers could keep five this year, especially given that Ramsey could play some slot corner, leaving two spots for Spears-Jennings, Castro and Savage. But the three could also be fighting for just one spot, and it’s a battle that should be fun to watch play out.
Ray Fittipaldo recently praised Spears-Jennings, a seventh-round pick who has ideal traits for the position and has the potential to become a core special teamer. Castro showed off his special teams ability last season and will have to prove he can be more of a contributor in that area than Spears-Jennings to earn a spot. Castro, too, has gotten praise from reporters this offseason, with Mark Kaboly believing Castro flashed during OTAs.
Savage is a veteran familiar with the coaching staff from his time with Washington last season and with the Packers early in his career. Jason Simmons was his defensive backs coach during his rookie year in 2019, and he played under Simmons and Joe Whitt Jr. last season with the Commanders. Savage hasn’t played more than 100 special teams snaps in his career, and that total came as a rookie. But he had nine interceptions in the first four seasons of his career, and he’s still just 28 years old.
If the staff thinks they can get him back to being the player he once was, Savage could earn a role as a backup for his ballhawk abilities. But the lack of special teams value compared to Spears-Jennings and Castro is going to hurt him.
The Steelers could split the difference and keep Savage and one of Spears-Jennings and Castro. If they do keep five safeties, that might be the way things play out. But training camp will be the biggest test for all three, and it’s shaping up to be a really intriguing battle. It should be one that has more of an impact on special teams than anything, but it’s still one of the more intriguing ones on the roster.
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