Steelers Host Safeties Rayshawn Jenkins, Jordan Whitehead

It appears the team may not wait until the end of August, though, as they hosted two veterans at the position today. Aaron Wilson of KPRC 2 reported this afternoon that the Steelers worked out Rayshawn Jenkins, and NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo reported that Jordan Whitehead was also present on today’s visit. The two veteran fourth-round picks have combined for 193 starts over 16 years of NFL play.

Jenkins career began with the Chargers in 2017. The Miami-product became a full-time starter in Los Angeles by Year 3 and maintained a starting job when he returned to Florida as free agent addition for the Jaguars on a four-year, $35MM deal. Jenkins posted a career year in his second season in Jacksonville, logging career highs in total tackles (116), passes defensed (12), and forced fumbles (3) while matching a career high with three interceptions, one of which he returned 52 yards for a touchdown.

Jacksonville released Jenkins from his contract a year before it would’ve expired, and he signed a two-year, $12MM contract with the Seahawks. Seattle, too, cut Jenkins before he could play out the final year of his deal, and he landed with the Browns last year, coming off the bench behind Ronnie Hickman and Grant Delpit.

Drafted a year after Jenkins, Whitehead worked his way into a starting lineup with the Buccaneers far quicker than Jenkins. Though he began his rookie year working mostly on special teams, a knee injury to then-starter Chris Conte opened the door for Whitehead to work with the first-team defense. He’s started every game he’s played in since that day. Whitehead was a very consistent contributor during his time in Tampa Bay, showing up all over the stat sheet with five interceptions, 25 passes defensed, and 22 tackles for loss over the course of his rookie deal.

As a free agent, Whitehead landed with the Jets on a two-year, $14.5MM contract and delivered two years of his best ball. In 34 starts, he logged six interceptions, 17 passes defensed, and his two highest tackles totals to date. Despite having a career year before another bout with free agency, Whitehead next contract was a lesser two-year, $9MM deal to return to Tampa Bay. In his first year back with the Bucs, Whitehead worked his way back from a four-game absence to play in the team’s penultimate game of the 2024 season before suffering injuries in a car accident that warranted placement on the reserve/non-football injury list.

As Whitehead is working his way back to a roster, he’s drawn interest from a number of teams, though no contract offers have resulted from that interest. The Steelers signed former Bears safety Jaquan Brisker in free agency and welcome back DeShon Elliott after he missed most of last year. Veteran Darnell Savage brings lots of starting experience to the room as well, but behind those three, only undrafted assets fill out the room. The Steelers clearly have an interest in exploring depth at safety, and Jenkins and Whitehead appear to have gotten the first auditions.