Steelers Sign Free Agent Cornerback to Replace Cory Trice

UNITY TWP., Pa. — With rookie Cory Trice seeing his season coming to end after a non-contact knee injury on Tuesday, the Pittsburgh Steelers had an open roster spot to fill and not just a man to fill on the 90-man roster.
Trice had been projected to make the team’s 53-man unit and had been battling with incumbent James Pierre to be in a position to be active on game days as the team’s No. 4 outside cornerback behind Patrick Peterson, Levi Wallace and Joey Porter Jr,

To continue that competition at this late stage in the process, the Steelers needed to find someone with NFL experience to be able to “hop on the moving train” as Mike Tomlin likes to say, and they found that on Wednesday, signing free agent cornerback Isaiah Dunn.

Dunn, 24, has played 17 games in his two-year NFL career. He originally joined the New York Jets as an undrafted free agent in 2021, where he played alongside fellow Steelers defensive back Elijah Riley.

Dunn played in 12 games for the Jets and made one start in 2021, making eight tackles and defending two passes. He played both outside cornerback and as an in-the-box safety for the Jets. Pro Football Focus graded Dunn as a solid tackler, but overall poor run defender and below-average in coverage.

Dunn was released at the end of training camp in 2022 and was claimed on waivers by the Seattle Seahawks. He played one game in Seattle in 2022 before suffering an injury and spending the rest of the season on injured reserve. He was released on July 25, before the start of training camp.

The Steelers other options to replace Trice on the depth chart include Chris Wilcox and Madre Harper. Harper has 12 NFL games played. Wilcox has none.

A graduate of Antioch High School in Oakland, California, Dunn shares an alma mater with Steelers running back Najee Harris. He matriculated from there to Oregon State, where he became a full-time starter as a junior in 2019.

That season, he recorded 42 tackles, eight passes defended and one forced fumble. In seven games in the COVID-shortened 2020 season, he had 13 tackles and three passes defended.

Dunn showed high-end speed in the pre-draft process. He ran a 4.38-second 40-yard dash, which is in the 94th percentile of draft prospects at cornerback. He also had an impressive 10-foot, 7-inch broad jump and posted an overall Relative Athletic Score of 8.93.