The Steelers will not be signing Jaire Alexander. The Ravens signed the two-time second-team All-Pro cornerback to a one-year, $6 million contract yesterday, reuniting him with his Louisville teammate, Lamar Jackson. 

There's been a pretty negative reaction from Steelers fans on social media about the team not landing Alexander, especially for such a cheap price. That begs the question of if the Steelers whiffed on an opportunity to upgrade the cornerback position.

First, any attempt by the Steelers -- assuming there was one -- was rendered moot by Alexander's preference to take less money to play with the Ravens. He wanted to go to Baltimore. Money talks an awful lot, but not in every single circumstance. So, even if the Steelers offered him a larger contract, it might not have mattered.

Second, Alexander's fit with the Steelers would have been ... clunky. This team already has two starting outside cornerbacks in Joey Porter Jr. and Darius Slay. And, those two are the undoubted starters. Porter is heading into Year 3 after playing well in his first two seasons. Slay was signed to a one-year, $10 million contract and still puts up coverage metrics that rank among the best in the NFL.

Let's just say Alexander was more open to signing with other teams. Could he have played more in the slot for the Steelers? No, not really. Alexander hasn't played in the slot on any kind of regular basis since his rookie season in 2018. He played 174 snaps in the slot as a rookie, but has played just 190 total snaps in the slot over the six seasons since.

Also, Alexander has been far from reliable. Injuries have limited him to seven games or less in three of the past four seasons, missing a total of 32 games over the span.

Should the Steelers look for external help at cornerback, Jalen Ramsey makes more sense than Alexander. Ramsey's primarily an outside cornerback, too, but he's at least logged 1,263 snaps from the slot over nine seasons, including a career high of 341 with the Super Bowl champion Rams in 2021. He has proven his ability to play in the slot.

Adding Ramsey would give the Steelers a dangerous trio over Porter and Slay on the outside and Ramsey in the slot, with Ramsey having the ability to bounce outside on any given play. It would also be insurance for the defense in case Father Time happens to chase down Slay in a hurry this season.

However, adding Ramsey is a lot more complicated than a simple, cheap one-year contract. The Dolphins have agreed to part ways with him, so the trade compensation shouldn't be terrible. What Miami wants is cap relief, and Ramsey hasn't even begun to earn the three-year, $72.3 million extension he signed last September.

The Dolphins are currently on the hook for cap hits of $16.67 million, $25.03 million, $26.8 million and $36.2 million over the next four seasons, respectively. However, any team that would acquire Ramsey would be responsible for $21.1 million in guaranteed money this season. The Steelers currently have $18.8 million in cap space, according to OverTheCap.com, and the Dolphins want to shed as much of Ramsey's contract as possible. The Steelers, like a lot of teams this time of year, aren't exactly in a place to take on a big chunk of a large contract. The team has remained very flexible with the cap under Omar Khan, and taking on a huge portion of Ramsey's contract would limit that.

Meanwhile, the Steelers have arguably more important matters to address than cornerback. Adding a legitimate second wide receiver is and should be the top priority right now. They also need to add another tight end to the roster to replace Donald Parham, who was going to be more than just a distant fourth on the depth chart. Adding some more depth to the offensive line wouldn't be a bad idea, either, and all of those needs likely wouldn't cost nearly as much as Ramsey.

Yes, an upgrade at slot cornerback is on the list of needs. But, the Steelers have found successful contributors at that position through much cheaper means, such as Mike Hilton and Cam Sutton. The book hasn't been written on Beanie Bishop just yet, and there's a good chance the Steelers roll with him in 2025 to get a more firm answer.

As with anything else during this particular time of the year, things change from one day to the next. It's something to watch for over the coming days and weeks before the team reports to Saint Vincent College in Latrobe, Pa., for training camp.