The Pittsburgh Steelers have agreed to a three-year, $36.75 million deal with former Tampa Bay Buccaneers cornerback Jamel Dean, agent Erik Burkhardt of Roc Nation Sports told ESPN’s Peter Schrager on Monday.
A third-round draft pick by the Buccaneers in 2019 out of Auburn, Dean was the last remaining cornerback from Tampa Bay’s Super Bowl LV championship team.
He missed three games with an injury in 2025 but registered a career-best three interceptions, along with two forced fumbles, a sack, two quarterback hits and nine passes defended.
Dean’s main issue has been staying healthy. He dealt with hip and shoulder injuries this past season, forcing him to miss three games. He’s missed 21 regular season games in seven seasons.
Dean, 29, agreed to take a significant paycut in 2025, in which his base salary was reduced from $12.5 million to $4.25 million, with $750,000 available in incentives. When he was on the field in 2025, he allowed just a 41.7% completion percentage (415 coverage snaps) as the nearest defender, according to NFL Next Gen Stats, tops among players with a minimum of 100 coverage snaps.
At 6-foot-1 and 206 pounds, Dean clocked a 4.30 40-yard dash at the NFL combine, which is among the best in the combine’s now-27-year history (only 12 total cornerbacks have ever tested faster). Dean has seen action in 96 career games with 77 starts over seven seasons.
ESPN’s Jenna Laine contributed to this report.
