On Monday, the Pittsburgh Steelers and Miami Dolphins pulled off a huge trade that sent starting free safety Minkah Fitzpatrick to the Miami Dolphins in exchange for cornerback Jalen Ramsey, tight end Jonnu Smith and a swap of NFL draft picks.
With Fitzpatrick heading back to Miami, the Steelers now need a starting free safety to line up next to DeShon Elliott. Here are four directions the Steelers could go.
Juan Thornhill
The Steelers signed Thornhill as a free agent this offseason, and he’s made 74 career starts in six seasons. If I were a betting man, this is the favorite for the team’s primary answer to their starting free safety problem.
Free agency
We will dig into some specific names soon, but there are still several free agents out there with significant starting experience who could come in on a one-year contract to add leadership and production to the secondary.
Those two new cornerbacks
We wouldn’t be at all shocked if the Steelers don’t use their two new cornerbacks, Darius Slay and Jalen Ramsey, as some sort of cornerback/safety combo with both guys on the field along with cornerback Joey Porter Jr. This is far from the ideal situation and the one we hope Pittsburgh avoids.
Our dark horse candidate
We understand this is a long shot, but don’t forget the name Sebastian Castro. The undrafted free agent from Iowa came to the team after the 2025 NFL draft with an impressive college resume. With so much talent in the secondary, we could see Castro and Thornhill splitting reps early on to see if Castro can handle the position.
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