The Steelers will not be in the market to add another brother tandem to their locker room, not with the money amounts they have already tossed around on their defense.
But they will be in the market to bring back some, if not most, of the five unrestricted free agents who were either starters or full-time contributors on defense — cornerback Cam Sutton, defensive end Larry Ogunjobi, strong safety Terrell Edmunds, inside linebacker Robert Spillane and free safety Damontae Kazee.
Some will be designated more important than others. And it remains to be seen if they change how they handle the situation with Edmunds, a former first-round draft choice.
This will be the second go-round through free agency for Edmunds, who became an unrestricted free agent after the 2021 season when the Steelers elected not to pick up the fifth-year option on his rookie contract.
But when Edmunds received little attention in free agency and was still sitting on the market in April, the Steelers brought him back on a one-year, $2.54 million deal three days before the draft.
It turned out to be one of their best offseason moves.
Will the same thing happen again? Or, based on how he played in 2022, will the Steelers not wait to re-sign him?
“I’m going to talk to them and go from there and take it slow,” Edmunds said. “I’ve been through the process before. I really understand everything and we’ll take it slow and figure out what’s next.”
Edmunds’ preference is to remain with the Steelers and maintain the partnership he had with All-Pro free safety Minkah Fitzpatrick. He started 15 games in 2022, was seventh on the team in tackles (70) and fourth in passes defensed (5), and probably had his best season since he was the 28th overall pick in the 2018 draft.
Edmunds said he did not view 2022 as a show-me season or an audition for a future contract. But he said, “I feel I put my best foot forward. I feel like I put everything out there.”
And that might have increased his market value.
“I just tried to be best team player I could be,” Edmunds said before departing with his teammates for the offseason. “Wherever they put me, just go out there and try to make plays and try to help the team out the best way I can. It wasn’t about trying to prove myself; it was more so about trying to win games. It was never, ‘I’ll show them.’ It was just continue to do what you do, just continue to give 110%, just really buy in. I think the guys around me, the people I wanted to play for, they gave me everything, I gave them everything. That’s something I wanted to do — put out 110% for them, regardless of the contract, regardless what I was paid. Just go out there and put everything out there for the guys around me.”
It remains to be seen if the Steelers liked enough of what they saw from Edmunds to bring him back in 2023. Or, more important, how they will prioritize him among their unrestricted free agents. Sutton and Ogunjobi, pending his health, will be at the top of the list. They will also be the most expensive.
Sutton has three voidable years on his signing bonus that will cost the Steelers $2.1 million in 2023, regardless if he’s with the team or not. And Ogunjobi, who was fourth on the team in quarterback hits (11) and tackles for loss (7), will cost more than the one-year, $8 million deal he received for 2022.
Spillane and Edmunds will fall next in line as part of a defense that went from 32nd to ninth in the league in rush defense, sixth in yards per carry (4.2).
“I’ve been here for five years and we have a never-quit mentality that I can really say that showed,” Edmunds said. “We were 2-6, we had to dig ourselves out of a hole, and we ended up coming out over the top. We continued to fight, continued to go out and grind and really buy into everyone playing together. That’s something we really did and that showed at the end of season.”
Edmunds isn’t the only member of his family who is entering free agency. His brother Tremaine, an inside linebacker with the Buffalo Bills who was the 16th overall pick in the 2018 draft, is also an unrestricted free agent.
Unlike his brother, who was drafted 12 spots lower in 2018, Tremaine Edmunds had his fifth-year option picked up by the Bills and was paid $12.7 million in 2022.
Terrell Edmunds already had the opportunity to play with one brother — Trey, who appeared in 21 games over four seasons (2018-2021) with the Steelers. He was asked about the possibility of a package deal that would reunite him with Tremaine if both players signed with the Steelers in free agency. Tremaine Edmunds would replace former top pick Devin Bush, who won’t be re-signed.
“If my brother comes here, that will be good,” Edmunds said, smiling at the thought. “Just for my family. They split up for games. To get my mom and dad to come to one home base every week, I’d do that to get the package deal right.”
While the Steelers have a history of filling their locker room with brother tandems, this one is not very feasible. Despite a poor performance in Sunday’s playoff loss to the Cincinnati Bengals, Tremaine Edmunds will be considered one of the top free agents on the market and command a contract the Steelers — with the highest defensive payroll in the league — cannot afford.
But Terrell Edmunds should be affordable, and keeping their safety tandem intact is of more significance.
“This is home base,” Edmunds said. “They gave me the opportunity to do what I love, they gave me the opportunity to be an NFL player, and I can’t say thank you enough to that. If they do offer me another deal, of course I’ll definitely try to make things work and go from there.”
