Photo courtesy of Pride of Detroit.
The Steelers have added some much needed depth to the safety position, signing Jalen Elliott, a third-year safety who has shown some flashes of talent, but has not always translated it onto the field. Most recently, he was on the Las Vegas Raiders but was released right before the 2023 NFL Draft. He was originally signed as an undrafted free agent by the Detroit Lions after the 2020 draft and played in eight games, starting one for Detroit during the 2021 season. The Lions let him go after the 2022 draft, and Elliott bounced around the league to New England and then Las Vegas.
Elliott, 6’0” 210 lbs., played collegiately at Notre Dame and was a three-year starter for the Fighting Irish. He has average straight line speed for the league and has the size to be a big hitter. The rap on Elliott is that he doesn’t make enough plays and struggles in open field tackling and in man coverage.
After Minkah Fitzpatrick at free safety, the Steelers have Tre Norwood and Kenny Robinson, and adding another body could go a long way to helping out the depth at that position. Elliott, too, has been known to be a good special teams player, which may always be of value.
To make room for the signing of Elliott, the Steelers waived injured wide receiver Ja’Marcus Bradley.