On Thursday, the Pittsburgh Steelers added former Miami Dolphins safety DeShon Elliott to help bolster the safety depth chart and give the Steelers a viable option to start next to Minkah Fitzpatrick, per Jordan Schultz of Bleacher Report:
“Breaking: Free agent safety DeShon Elliott is signing with the Steelers for 2 years $6M, source tells @BleacherReport.”
The Steelers land a safety who started and appeared in 15 games last season. The 26-year-old Elliott finished the season with one interception, seven passes defended, 82 tackles, and one tackle-for-loss. The Dolphins made it to the playoffs for the second straight year but fell in the Wild Card round to the eventual Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs.
Prior to signing with the Steelers, Elliott entered the league as a sixth-round pick in the 2018 NFL Draft. Selected by the Baltimore Ravens, the Texas product took a while to make his mark on the league. After landing on the injured reserve during the 2018 preseason, Elliott finally made his professional debut in 2019. However, he spent most of the season on the bench, appearing in just six games while recording six tackles.
Despite the relatively slow start to his career, Elliott earned a starting job in 2020. Starting and appearing in all 16 games, the former sixth-round pick finished the season with 2.5 sacks, 80 tackles, three tackles-for-loss, and five quarterback hits.
If the Steelers hadn’t signed Elliott, we could have seen Pittsburgh draft a safety in the first three rounds of the 2024 NFL draft. With Elliott in the fold, the Steelers can now use that pick for another position of need like offensive tackle or wide receiver.
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