BREAKING NEWS: Jabrill Peppers Joins Steelers After Surprise Patriots Release
With Week 2 of the 2025-26 NFL season arriving, the Pittsburgh Steelers continue to add to their roster. A recent injury is leading to general manager Omar Khan bringing in an experienced piece.
In fact, it’s a former first-round pick. Following DeShon Elliott going down with an ailment, Pittsburgh is reportedly signing Jabrill Peppers. Ian Rapoport of NFL Media first broke the news.
Steelers Add Safety Depth With Jabrill Peppers Signing
“Former Patriots S Jabrill Peppers, a surprise release after cut-down day, is expected to sign with the Steelers per me and Mike Garafolo,” Rapoport’s tweet began. They’ve agreed to terms.”
Mike DeFabo, Steelers beat writer for The Athletic, also confirmed the news. He cites Pittsburgh as having “long coveted versatile DBs” and adding someone who “should help in the short and long term.”
This is a rare, but true big-time pickup during the season that doesn’t require trade capital. With a new-look defense, the New England Patriots made the decision to part ways with Peppers on August 29. The 25th overall pick in the 2017 NFL Draft remained on the open market for over a week, eventually landing with head coach Mike Tomlin and defensive coordinator Teryl Austin.
Peppers now joins his fourth team in his nine-year career. He started things off in the AFC North, playing two years with the Cleveland Browns. He then spent three seasons apiece with the New York Giants and, subsequently, the Patriots.
He’s made 99 regular-season appearances, with 85 of them being starts. In those outings, he boasts career totals of 511 tackles (30 for loss), 35 passes broken up, 7 interceptions, 6 forced fumbles and 5.5 sacks.
Peppers played just six games last season. He was active from Weeks 1-4, then Weeks 13-15 (with a Week 14 bye). He spent a big chunk of the year on the Commissioner’s Exempt List, then went on injured reserve in January.
What Does Jabrill Peppers Bring to Pittsburgh?
Peppers, a former collegiate standout at Michigan, is an impressive athlete. Despite being undersized coming into the league, he posted tremendous speed and explosiveness scores during the pre-draft process. That, paired with the aforementioned versatility and an aggressive mindset, got him picked in round one.
It remains to be seen whether injuries or age will catch up with Peppers soon. Over the years, he’s suffered multiple foot/ankle injuries and had a 2021 ACL tear. He bounced back by playing in all 17 games in 2022 and then 15 in 2023. Peppers is set to turn 30 on October 4.
Being a jack of all trades is the name of Peppers’ game. The past couple of seasons have seen him thrive in coverage. In 2023, he surrendered a 72.7 passer rating and a career-low 4.9 yards per target. Pro Football Focus awarded Peppers with a sparkling 83.2 coverage grade for that year, then an 81.7 mark last season that ranked among the top 10 for safeties. He’s also a sound run defender and willing tackler.
With Elliott banged up and players like Juan Thornhill and Chuck Clark now being relied on, this move makes sense. Perhaps Peppers and Jalen Ramsey can be supplemental pieces who move around the defense and fill in at safety as needed.
Deebo Samuel may be Commanders' most important offensive piece
Washington Commanders wide receiver Deebo Samuel is excited about his future after a successful Week 1 debut against the New York Giants.
Commanders head coach Dan Quinn thinks Samuel can have a strong impact on the offense throughout the entire season.
“Yeah, it was about what I expected because it was touches on kickoff return and runs and passes and so we missed the connection also on I think one of the deep over routes. So, that's one of the things that he's just awesome at. And so, making sure we nail those two where it goes. But I think he was probably everywhere near around 10 touches somewhere into that space, so I thought that's a good start to things for sure," Quinn said.
Samuel has strong impact for Commanders
Samuel scored a rushing touchdown from 19 yards out in the win against the Giants. It was the 21st rushing touchdown of his career and his first since Week 1 of last season.
Quinn thinks the Commanders offense is clicking alongside Samuel, giving him the opportunity to shine in future weeks.
“Yeah, I would definitely want [T] Laremy [Tunsil] being my bodyguard, meaning the way out front, onto that play. You saw [C Tyler] Biadasz, I think it might have been Bill [Croskey-Merritt] out in front, but that's the type of thing that can make difficult to defend because defending the wide parts of the field as well as down the field shots, that's what makes defending an offense difficult when it's laterally and down the field," Quinn said.
Samuel and the Commanders are getting back in action later this week on Thursday Night Football against the 1-0 Green Bay Packers. Kickoff from inside Lambeau Field is set for 8:15 p.m. ET. Fans can watch the game on Amazon Prime Video.
