{"id":133468,"date":"2026-03-09T12:36:17","date_gmt":"2026-03-09T12:36:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/133468\/"},"modified":"2026-03-09T12:36:17","modified_gmt":"2026-03-09T12:36:17","slug":"steelers-make-first-move-of-free-agency-re-sign-starting-cb","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/133468\/","title":{"rendered":"Steelers Make First Move of Free Agency, Re-Sign Starting CB"},"content":{"rendered":"

Steelers News<\/a>\u2022Steelers Transactions<\/a><\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"PittsburghPittsburgh Steelers cornerback Asante Samuel Jr., during a game against the Baltimore Ravens on Jan. 4, 2026. — Ed Thompson \/ Steelers Now\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

The Pittsburgh Steelers have re-signed cornerback Asante Samuel Jr.<\/a> to a one-year contract, avoiding free agency before the start of the NFL\u2019s contact period on Monday.<\/p>\n

Samuel\u2019s new team with Pittsburgh is for one year and $4 million, per ESPN<\/a> \u2014 a significant bargain if he ends up being the team\u2019s starting cornerback opposite Joey Porter Jr.<\/p>\n

Samuel joined the Steelers mid-season in 2025, signing to the team\u2019s practice squad in November. He was delayed in joining a team for the 2025 season after he underwent spinal fusion surgery in April.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Not every team was prepared to clear him to return to play after that procedure, and that wariness may have impacted Samuel\u2019s value on the free agency market this offseason, despite a largely successful return. The Steelers had a significant level of comfort with Samuel, in part because their team neurosurgeon, Dr. David Okonwko, is the doctor that performed his surgery.<\/p>\n

\"PittsburghPittsburgh Steelers cornerback Asante Samuel Jr. celebrates an interception against the Miami Dolphins on Dec. 15, 2025. \u2014 Ed Thompson \/ Steelers Now<\/p>\n

After singing with the Steelers on Nov. 12, he made his first appearance for Pittsburgh on Nov. 30 and was elevated to the active roster on Dec. 2. He played the final six regular season games for the Steelers, and also the team\u2019s Wild Card playoff loss to the Houston Texans, making three starts while James Pierre<\/a> was injured.<\/p>\n

Samuel finished the season with 10 tackles, one pass defended and one interception, in his first start with the Steelers against the Miami Dolphins on Dec. 15.<\/p>\n

\nhttps:\/\/pro.x.com\/brgridiron\/status\/2000740845520072779\/video\/1\n<\/p>\n

Pierre and Samuel were both slated to become free agents, and general manager Omar Khan said at the NFL combine that he was interested in re-signing both players. At least for now, Samuel signing first puts him in the driver\u2019s seat to start at outside cornerback for the Steelers opposite Joey Porter Jr.<\/a> in 2026.<\/p>\n

Samuel, whose father, Asante Samuel Sr.<\/a> played 11 seasons in the NFL, was originally selected 47th overall in 2021. He has recorded six interceptions along with 37 pass defenses.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tMentioned In This Article: Asante Samuel Jr.<\/a> Pittsburgh Steelers<\/a> Steelers<\/a> Steelers Transactions<\/a> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Steelers News\u2022Steelers Transactions Pittsburgh Steelers cornerback Asante Samuel Jr., during a game against the Baltimore Ravens on Jan.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":133469,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[19975,73,75,74,1833,1829,37204],"class_list":["post-133468","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-pittsburgh","tag-asante-samuel-jr","tag-pittsburgh","tag-pittsburgh-headlines","tag-pittsburgh-news","tag-pittsburgh-steelers","tag-steelers","tag-steelers-transactions"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/133468","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=133468"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/133468\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/133469"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=133468"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=133468"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=133468"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}