Steelers All 90: Safety Damontae Kazee

All 90 is a Pittsburgh Steelers Now series profiling each of the 90 members of the Steelers 2022 offseason roster.

24 • Damontae Kazee, sixth-year safety, San Diego State
5-foot-11, 174 pounds

Acquired: The Steelers signed Kazee to a one-year free agent contract on May 3.

Last season: Kazee signed with made 15 starts for the Cowboys in 2021 after signing there as a free agent. He recorded 52 tackles, two interceptions, four passes defended and a lot of forced fumbles.

Career: Kazee was a fifth-round pick for the Falcons in the 2017 NFL Draft. Kazee played sparingly as a rookie, but quickly moved into a starting role for Atlanta in his second season in 2018. That year, he set career highs in tackles with 82, passes defended with 10 and seven interceptions, which also led the NFL.

He continued as Atlanta’s starter through the next three seasons, but tore his Achilles tendon in Week 4 of the 2020 season.

College: Kazee was a three-time All-Mountain West selection and a two-time Mountain West Defensive Player of the Year in his four seasons at San Diego State. Over his final two seasons, he intercepted 15 passes.

Camp outlook: With Minkah Fitzpatrick not participating in some drills, Kazee played mostly free safety during OTAs and minicamp, but can play both safety positions and may be a better fit at strong safety for Cover 2 schemes than returning starter Terrell Edmunds. It’s not clear how the snaps will be divvied up among the three vet safeties.

Future: Both Kazee and Edmunds are only on one-year contracts for 2022, so it could be a situation where the more relatable options gets a contract offer for the future or the Steelers go an entirely different direction in 2023.

The rest of the 90: