The Washington Commanders are signing former Pittsburgh Steelers cornerback James Pierre, according to a report by Josina Anderson of CBS Sports.
Pierre, 27, first joined the Steelers as an undrafted free agent out of Florida Atlantic in 2020, and became a key reserve and special teamer over his four seasons with the team.
Last season, the Steelers retained Pierre after he had been a restricted free agent, declining to tender him a contract, but then re-signing him to a one-year contract. This season, he was a traditional unrestricted free agent for the first time in his career.
The 6-foot-2, 185-pound Pierre earned his most extensive playing time in 2021, when he appeared in all 17 games and made four starts at cornerback, filling in for the injured Ahkello Witherspoon.
Over four seasons, he played in 66 games and made six starts. Pierre recorded a total of 94 tackles, one tackle for loss, three forced fumbles, one fumble recovery, six passes defended and two interceptions in his Steelers career.
He was a key member of the Pittsburgh special teams, appearing in over 50% of the team’s third-phase snaps over his four season. He specialized as a kick coverer.
Pierre is the first Steelers cornerback from the 2023 team to sign elsewhere. The team had three rookie cornerbacks at the end of last season, with Joey Porter Jr. establishing himself as a starter on the outside and Darius Rush working as the Dime corner ahead of Pierre, while Cory Trice Jr. spent the season on the injured reserve list with a preseason knee injury.
Porter, Rush and Trice will join recently acquired veteran Donte Jackson as cornerbacks on the 2024 squad. Jackson came to Pittsburgh from the Carolina Panthers in the Diontae Johnson trade. Patrick Peterson, Chandon Sullivan and Levi Wallace remain available as free agents.
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