Steelers Daily Links: Patrick Peterson Gives Up on No. 7; Kenny Pickett Ball in HOF

Patrick Peterson has withdrawn his first request for a Steelers uniform number and Kenny Pickett is already in the Hall of Fame.

🏈 New Steelers cornerback Patrick Peterson changed his Twitter profile to the Steelers six Lombardi Trophies and tweeted, “Let’s Work @steelers Nation!!” He also realizes that No. 7 is not up for grabs.

🏈 ESPN Stats & Info: Patrick Peterson’s 34 career interceptions are tied with Harrison Smith for the most of any active player. His five interceptions last season were his most since 2012. The Steelers tied the San Francisco 49ers for the league lead with 20 interceptions last season.

🏈 Next Gen Stats: Patrick Peterson was targeted just nine times on 111 man coverage snaps in 2022, allowing three receptions for 30 yards. Peterson was the only outside cornerback to be targeted on fewer than 12% of his man coverage snaps last season (8.1%, min. 100 man coverage snaps). Peterson will join a Steelers defense that played man coverage on 40.6% of dropbacks last season (4th in NFL), nearly twice as often as the Vikings (20.8%, 29th).

🏈 Pro Football Hall of Fame: The ball with which Kenny Pickett threw the game-winning touchdown pass against the Las Vegas Raiders on Christmas Eve is now at the Pro Football Hall of Fame. It was also the night that the Steelers retired the late Franco Harris’ No. 32 jersey. Pickett became the first rookie quarterback in NFL history to throw a game-winning touchdown in the last minute of back-to-back games, doing so against Las Vegas and the Baltimore Ravens in Week 17 and 18.

🏈 Former Steelers offensive tackle Kelvin Beachum agreed to a two-year deal to return to the Arizona Cardinals. Beachum, 33, was the only Cardinals’ offensive lineman to start in all 17 games last season, and he has missed only six games the past seven years.

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AROUND THE NETWORK

Pittsburgh Sports Now: Fede Federiko is a game-time decision for Pitt in the NCAA Tournament tonight against Mississippi.

West Virginia Sports Now: WVU adds an extremely versatile walk-on.

Nittany Sports Now: Penn State officially hired Deion Barnes as defensive line coach.

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Pittsburgh Soccer Now: The Riverhounds got the 2023 season started with a draw, knotting up against Birmingham, 1-1. The Hounds are back on the road on Saturday at Memphis.