{"id":231637,"date":"2026-06-30T09:16:15","date_gmt":"2026-06-30T09:16:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/231637\/"},"modified":"2026-06-30T09:16:15","modified_gmt":"2026-06-30T09:16:15","slug":"steelers-defender-named-as-surprise-trade-candidate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/231637\/","title":{"rendered":"Steelers defender named as surprise trade candidate"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Pittsburgh Steelers\u2019 defense is a unit that will look much different philosophically than it has in recent memory. While a 3-4 principles are still the foundation in which the unit will build on, defensive coordinator Patrick Graham will put a more modern touch on a defense that has grown stale.<\/p>\n

The Steelers have added pieces to the unit throughout the offseason, as well as re-signed multiple players who were previously on the roster. Of those players to be brought back is cornerback Asante Samuel Jr. The former second-round pick was signed mid-season as a free agent after he underwent a spinal fusion procedure. And while the Steelers brought him back on a one-year deal, Jack Markowski of Sports Illustrated tabbed the Florida State product as a trade candidate.<\/p>\n

\u201cEchols\u2019 versatility makes him a more worthwhile player for the Steelers since Samuel Jr. has never proven to be anything other than a boundary corner,\u201d Markowski writes<\/a>. \u201cWith his prior track record as a solid No. 2-type corner for the Los Angeles Chargers at the beginning of his career while Ramsey and Echols appear like more indispensable parts of Pittsburgh\u2019s roster, Samuel Jr. is the top trade candidate at the position as of now. He may not fetch more than a mid-to-late Day 3 pick, but it\u2019s still decent enough value for Samuel Jr. if the right opportunity were to present itself this offseason.\u201d<\/p>\n

Samuel picked off one pass with the Steelers last season, intercepting a Tua Tagovailoa pass in Week 15. He is part of a stacked secondary that introduced Jamel Dean and Jaquan Brisker in free agency.<\/p>\n

Let us know what you think in the comments. Be sure to bookmark Behind the Steel Curtain for all the latest news, breakdowns, and more!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Pittsburgh Steelers\u2019 defense is a unit that will look much different philosophically than it has in recent…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":231638,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[73,75,74,4853,7106],"class_list":["post-231637","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-pittsburgh","tag-pittsburgh","tag-pittsburgh-headlines","tag-pittsburgh-news","tag-pittsburgh-steelers-news","tag-pittsburgh-steelers-roster"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/231637","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=231637"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/231637\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/231638"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=231637"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=231637"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=231637"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}