When the Steelers declined Terrell Edmunds' fifth-year option, it wasn't because they didn't like what he brings to the table or that they didn't want him as part of their long term plans.
Paying the fifth-year option for Minkah Fitzpatrick and locking into Edmunds in the same year might've put the team in a situation that limited their salary cap when they'll want to make big moves like re-signing T.J. Watt or making a splash in free agency.
Edmunds knows he has the respect of the organization, especially when he revealed Tuesday at Heinz Field during Steelers minicamp that Tomlin called him personally to share the news, and words of motivation.
"Coach Tomlin called me personally," Edmunds said. "He told me they weren't going to pick up my option that this year. He said that doesn't mean that business is over, but to stay motivated to do what I can. My emotions to it was that, I guess this is my contract year now. Every game is like an interview. You have to bet on yourself, double-down and put in the hard work."
"This is grown man's business," Tomlin said Tuesday when asked about his call to Edmunds. "This is football at its highest level. Tough decisions and tough conversations happen daily. We all understand that and try to approach that in as professional and sensitive manner as we can.""
That approach was well-received by Edmunds, and he still wants to work on his game to continue his ascent. He's steadily improved going into his fourth season this year.
Despite being targeted the most times in his career (53) in 2020, the 29 receptions he allowed made for a 54.7 completion percentage, the best he's had in his career. Add that with his eight passes defensed and two interceptions both being more than he had put together in 2018 and 2019 combined, and it paints a clear picture of his progress.
The Steelers felt confident leaving him with tough assignments in 2020, sometimes even putting him man-to-man assignments with opponents' top receivers.
Watch how he ran with Tyler Boyd on this deep pass that went incomplete. Edmunds started the play lined up as a deep safety lined up to cover the deep half of the field, but then came up to make sure he was ready to take on Boyd in man coverage. When the play began he made sure to establish and maintain inside leverage to force Joe Burrow to throw the perfect pass over his head but not too far that it was into the sideline:
Edmunds has gotten that part of his game to the point it's pretty consistent.
"I would love to come back to Steeler nation," Edmunds said. "They're the people who gave me the opportunity to come to the NFL and make all my dreams come true. Definitely still hoping for maybe some year making something happen. Right now I just got to come in work, keep my head on straight and play 100 percent every game."
Edmunds' biggest mistakes have come when he's taken a poor attack angle and misjudged a situation. Here's a play where he let Marquise Brown turn a play where it was a completion in the soft spot of a zone turn into a big touchdown that kept the Ravens in the game.
You can see Joe Haden come up on the play and how that left Edmunds as the lone man on that sideline. Instead of playing the ball behind Brown, he needed to cut the ball off by getting in front of him or at least working for contact to break up the pass:
But mistakes like that aren't for a lack of understanding his role, they're part of the learning process in growing in the NFL.
"I think he'll be much better because of the experience he's had over the last three years," Keith Butler said Tuesday of Edmunds. "To me, I've always thought guys who were in their first three years were just learning how to play in the league. They get a chance to react faster later on because they recognize things faster. I'm looking for him to do that. Not because he'll get faster or quicker, but because he knows what he's doing."
Edmunds has embraced communication and working within the Steelers' defense even as a rookie in 2018. But with how fast the game is in the NFL, it's not an instant transition to take that understanding of a play and convert it into success."
"He'll know what he's doing better," Butler said as he continued on Edmunds. "Maybe he'll be there a split-second earlier to get the interceptions he didn't get last year. We look for him to be better. To me, the most productive years for a guy playing defense are usually the fourth, fifth and sixth years, maybe their seventh year. They've learned so much about what they've done in those years it advises them what to do how to take on offenses. They know what's going on in the league and I look for him to be in that stage of his career where he reacts faster."
That split-second against the Ravens might've been the difference between an interception for Edmunds and a touchdown for Brown. If Edmunds can grasp that part of the game, he could be the complete strong safety the Steelers have wanted in him since making him their first round selection in 2018.
Edmunds does look comfortable playing in various roles for the Steelers. He's less at home as a deep safety but looks more aggressive and detailed when working in underneath coverage. Watch how he sniffed out this late release by David Njoku where the pressure from the Steelers forced Baker Mayfield to resort to a quick dump pass.
Not only did Edmunds show patience by not blitzing or rotating to another responsibility, but he stayed in perfect position to attack the ball and wrap up Njoku even if the play was made:
Positioning is half the battle in coverage assignments.
Sometimes the slightest misstep in leverage can tip the scale to the offensive player, like on this third down when Edmunds let Zach Ertz's shake route trick him into giving up inside leverage to allow the conversion:
But again, that's where his growing instincts can help avoid making those mistakes as a more experienced player.
Edmunds also won't have any different of a role to learn this year, so he'll be right at home focusing on how to improve within the scheme he already knows.
"We're going to keep everything pretty much the same," Edmunds said of his role in the 2021 Steelers defense. "It worked out last year. Everyone was in good positions. If it's not broke, don't fix it. I think Minkah said that the other day. We want to stick together and grow together as a back-end."
Fitzpatrick and Edmunds are an impressively athletic safety pair. Fitzpatrick is the two-time First Team All-Pro safety that's become the X-factor of the Steelers' secondary while Edmunds continues to work to be the Swiss army knife of the defense that can cover receivers, tight ends and running backs all around the field.
But also a big part of Edmunds' growth is definitely his growth in chemistry with Fitzpatrick. Safeties can be the most dangerous defensive backs for quarterbacks to consider when throwing the ball as their lining up all around the field can make for the best disguised coverages.
"We're growing each year," Edmunds said of his chemistry with Fitzpatrick. "Every year we've been getting better together and pushing each other. It's that chemistry. Sometimes we make eye contact and we know what each other are going to do. That's a big part and something about both of us going out there to make plays."
Watch this interception of Edmunds when the Steelers flipped their deep zone coverage to fool Jake Luton. He and Fitzpatrick both lined up as two deep safeties signaling cover two zone defense. But at the snap of the ball, both jumped down into underneath coverage with the Steelers' cornerbacks all dropping back in deep coverage for a cover three defense.
The result was Edmunds sitting right in the seam Luton thought he would have and an interception going the other way:
If Edmunds can create more turnover moments like this with Fitzpatrick, he would solidify them as the best safety pair in the NFL considering how well Fitzpatrick has played in his first two seasons with the Steelers.
And as Butler said, it's not about him being physically any different. It's more about him being comfortable in his cleats to trust what he's seeing and react with better pursuit angles to attack plays and be a true asset to the defense.
