{"id":254191,"date":"2025-11-11T17:40:30","date_gmt":"2025-11-11T22:40:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/?p=254191"},"modified":"2025-11-11T17:40:30","modified_gmt":"2025-11-11T22:40:30","slug":"breaking-steelers-cut-former-super-bowl-champion-juan-thornhill-4-potential-teams-ranked","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2025\/11\/11\/breaking-steelers-cut-former-super-bowl-champion-juan-thornhill-4-potential-teams-ranked\/","title":{"rendered":"Breaking: Steelers Cut Former Super Bowl Champion; 4 Potential Teams, Ranked"},"content":{"rendered":"

After signing cornerback Asante Samuel Jr., the Pittsburgh Steelers will cut safety Juan Thornhill, who has only spent one season with the team. It’s no surprise that the Steelers made the sudden release<\/a> since the team was making room in their 53-man roster for Samuel. Barring any circumstance in which a team claims Thornhill off waivers, the veteran will become a free agent and become the second-best safety available in the market, right behind Justin Simmons. Given that the Steelers traded for former Patriot safety Kyle Dugger, the writing was on the wall already for Thornhill, and since joining the team, Dugger has been eating most of the snaps alongside starter Jalen Ramsey<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Breaking: Steelers Cut Juan Thornhill; 4 Potential Teams, Ranked<\/h2>\n

Thornhill worked most of the time with special teams, but it couldn’t compensate for his stay with the team, as the Steelers felt like they could use the next man up to take over. The 30-year-old is quickly at a point in his career where he will likely take a situational role to get himself back on track since he started one of nine games this season. Thornhill isn’t going to garner much interest, but he should be able to get a job as a backup for a team. The safety has Super Bowl experience during his time with Kansas City since coming off the board in 2019, so here are four teams that could sign him.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

1. Kansas City Chiefs<\/h3>\n

It should not be a surprise if the Chiefs decide to bring back Thornhill. Ever since they let Justin Reid hit the free-agent market, the team has been reluctant to make a new addition to the young safety group. Chamarri Conner<\/a> and Bryan Cook have been holding it down, but they need experience if they want success in the postseason (if they make it with the 5-4 record). The Chiefs are likely to be at least in the wild-card, and Thornhill’s addition might not be the most spectacular signing, but it would give them much-needed depth.<\/p>\n

\"Chamarri
Dec 15, 2024; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Kansas City Chiefs safety Chamarri Conner (27) is helped to the locker room following an injury during the second quarter against the Cleveland Browns at Huntington Bank Field. Mandatory Credit: Scott Galvin-Imagn Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

<\/p>\n

2. Dallas Cowboys<\/h3>\n

The Cowboys need a new safety in the worst way possible. After trading for Quinnen Williams<\/a> and Logan Wilson, the team is not looking to tank even though they’re 3-5-1. Despite the Eagles continuing to win and now 7-2, the Cowboys should sign Thornhill to give Donovan Wilson and Juanyeh Thomas some insurance policy in that group. As much as this offense has been on fire, they can’t afford the opportunity to go to waste when you have a depleted secondary.<\/p>\n

\"cut
Main Photo: Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

<\/p>\n

3. Washington Commanders<\/h3>\n

The Washington Commanders also faced a myriad of injuries this year. With cornerbacks Trey Amos and Marshon Lattimore<\/a> out for the rest of the season, they could use just about any type of secondary help. Washington could sign Thornhill on a low-stakes deal to help Quan Martin as a backup and get him in certain moments to see if he could work well in their safety room. The Commanders already signed Darnell Savage, so why not Thornhill, too?<\/p>\n

\"Jahmyr
Jan 18, 2025; Detroit, Michigan, USA; Detroit Lions running back Jahmyr Gibbs (26) runs the ball against Washington Commanders defensive back Quan Martin (20) during the fourth quarter in a 2025 NFC divisional round game at Ford Field. Mandatory Credit: Lon Horwedel-Imagn Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

<\/p>\n

4. Indianapolis Colts<\/h3>\n

The debut of cornerback Sauce Gardner hasn’t gone as planned. Even though he came close to his first debut interception, the cornerback struggled to contain Falcons wide receiver Drake London<\/a>. The trade itself is an obvious sign that the Colts could be open to the idea of upgrading their safety unit. While they have their best safety in Cam Bynum, they might as well sign Thornhill on a budgeted contract to see what he can do.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Indianapolis Colts cornerback Sauce Gardner meets with the media on Thursday, November 6, 2025.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Pittsburgh Steelers have released former Kansas City Chief and will be looking for a new home before the NFL Playoffs. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4795,"featured_media":254200,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[36,19,12,16,6431,9,8896],"tags":[7491,9615,7811,7422,7800,4887,7466,1658,7366,9573,8996],"class_list":["post-254191","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nfl-news","category-cowboys","category-colts","category-chiefs","category-nfl-teams","category-steelers","category-washington-commanders","tag-asante-samuel-jr","tag-chamarri-conner","tag-chiefs-featured","tag-dallas-cowboys-news","tag-indianapolis-colts-news","tag-juan-thornhill","tag-kansas-city-chiefs-news","tag-marshon-lattimore","tag-pittsburgh-steelers-news","tag-sauce-gardner","tag-washington-commanders-news"],"modified_by":"Anthony Palacios","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/254191","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4795"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=254191"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/254191\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":254358,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/254191\/revisions\/254358"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/254200"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=254191"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=254191"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=254191"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}