The Steelers struggled for years to acquire a secondary that could rank among the league's best.
But over the past few years, they had pieced one together, acquiring Mike Hilton at the end of the 2016 season after the undrafted rookie was released by the Jaguars and then the Patriots. They then added Cam Sutton as a third-round pick in 2017 and signed Joe Haden after he was inexplicably released by the Browns right before the start of training camp.
The final pieces to the puzzle were added in 2018, when the team selected safety Terrell Edmunds in the draft and then signed cornerback Steven Nelson as a free agent and traded for safety Minkah Fitzpatrick in 2019.
It added up to a defense that ranked third in the league in pass defense in each of the past two seasons while also intercepting 38 passes, the second-most in the league during that span.
But free agency and a shrinking salary cap because of the pandemic broke up the gang. Hilton left in free agency earlier this year, signing a 4-year, $24-million contract with the Bengals. And Nelson was released in a cost-cutting move to save $8.25 million in cap space while opening a starting spot for Sutton, whom the team re-signed to a 2-year, $9-million deal.
"Steve was a valuable player for us,” GM Kevin Colbert said. “However, we had to make some tough salary cap-related decisions. Steve Nelson is a starter-capable NFL corner. We just couldn’t keep him under the current setup that we had or the current setup that we’re dealing with from a salary cap standpoint, and we had to make some tough choices.”
It won't be the only tough choice facing the team.
While Sutton can replace Nelson on the outside or Hilton on the inside, he can't do both at the same time. Another player is going to have to emerge as the third defensive back on passing downs. And figuring out who that player might be will be a big part of the team's training camp, which begins Thursday with practices at the UPMC-Rooney Sports Complex.
There are a number of options.
The Steelers could decide to slide Sutton to the slot when it goes to its nickel and dime defense and play James Pierre or Justin Layne on the outside. Or, they could keep Sutton on the outside and insert 2020 sixth-round draft pick Antoine Brooks, free agent acquisition Arthur Maulet or rookies Tre Norwood or Shakur Brown in the slot.
It should make for one of the most interesting battles of camp and the preseason.
Brooks, a safety by trade, got a lot of the playing time with the first unit throughout the course of the offseason program. He also played in the slot at times in 2020 when Hilton was out with a shoulder injury.
"His college resume indicates that he has capabilities in that area," Mike Tomlin said. "We’ve worked him there in the past. He’s had some success. He’ll be given an opportunity to continue to grow and develop and display those skills, and we’ll determine, when we get close to the action, how we divide the labor and who does what."
The continued progression of Layne and Pierre could come into play, as well.
A third-round draft pick in 2019, Layne didn't play any defensive snaps as a rookie, only seeing action on special teams. He saw 117 defensive snaps in 2020, while Pierre, an undrafted rookie a year ago, played 27 defensive snaps, all of which came late in the season.
Pierre, however, played eight defensive snaps in the team's playoff loss to the Browns, compared to none for Layne.
But 2021 offers a new chance for the two to battle for playing time. And the Steelers likely wouldn't have released Nelson unless they felt one or both were capable players and they had options on the inside.
"We need to find somebody who can play both outside and inside. We know that Cam can," said defensive coordinator Keith Butler. "We know that Joe Haden will be back and helping us out. We think we’re pretty good in the secondary. We ended up third in the league last year. I think we can be even better than that after watching the film this offseason.
"That also goes with the pass rush, and we’ve always had a good pash rush. We led the league in sacks the past three or four years. The pass rush has always been there. If we can keep doing that, then we should be able to help our guys in the secondary. Hopefully that will happen for us."
The pass rush helps. But so does having an eraser such as Fitzpatrick on the back end of the defense.
The pairing of Fitzpatrick and Edmunds gives the Steelers a very solid starting duo. The team also added veteran Miles Killebrew in free agency, while Maulet, Brooks and Norwood all can play safety, as well.
So, the depth there might be better than it was a year ago.
But figuring out the whole puzzle and how it all fits together will be a big part of this camp once the pads go on.
"The most distinguishing trait to me in terms of playing inside is physicality or the willingness or ability to be physical and play against bigger people and in those close quarter spaces," Tomlin said of the slot corner position. "I think we all would agree that that was a distinguishing trait that Mike Hilton displayed.
"No one’s really been given an opportunity to display that based on how we’ve worked to this point. I think that that’s going to be such a significant factor in determining who occupies that role for us; their ability to play physical, their ability to play in that box, and be effective run players and blitzers and so forth. Some of those traits are somewhat unique when it comes to defensive back play."