Steelers 2-a-days: Veterans Damontae Kazee, Karl Joseph jockey for position among safeties
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Editor’s note: From now until the first practice of training camp at Saint Vincent College, the Trib will be running through the Pittsburgh Steelers’ 90-man roster, assessing each player’s outlook for the 2022 season. The breakdown will go through the roster in mostly-alphabetical order, two per day, between June 11 and July 25. Contract data courtesy spotrac.com.
S KARL JOSEPH
Experience: 7th season
Contract status: $1.035 million cap hit in 2022, after which scheduled for unrestricted free agency
2022 outlook: Joseph starred a 90-minute drive away in college at West Virginia, and he was one of the top prospects in the draft during a year (2016) when the Steelers were known to be interested in safeties. Joseph is no longer anywhere near that player anymore — but coach Mike Tomlin finally got his man just before last year’s regular season started.
Joseph joined the Steelers after being waived by the Las Vegas Raiders at the end of their 2021 training camp. Joseph spent the entire regular season on the Steelers’ practice squad — albeit he was a “call-up” for a game twice. Joseph was limited to 17 defensive snaps and 14 special-teams snaps, but the Steelers must have believed Joseph showed enough that they brought him back for 2022.
But the Steelers also signed veteran Domantae Kazee five weeks later, and with versatile defensive back Tre Norwood, special-teams standout Miles Killebrew and returning practice-squad player Donovan Stiner all on the roster, Joseph needs to impress to ensure a even a spot on the practice squad.
The biggest beneficiary so far has been Damontae Kazee, a five-year veteran who remained unsigned until the Steelers gave him a one-year contract after the conclusion of the NFL Draft. https://t.co/shCM3KEeSV
— Tribune-ReviewSports (@TribSports) June 12, 2022
S DAMONTAE KAZEE
Experience: 6th season
Contract status: $1.048 million cap hit in 2022, after which scheduled for unrestricted free agency
2022 outlook: Kazee was one of those sneaky, late-offseason signings of veteran players that sometimes help teams fortifying their roster from the proverbial bargain bin. The 29-year-old was a starter for a playoff team last season (the Dallas Cowboys) and has 50 career NFL starts (including playoffs) and only once has had an injury that caused him to miss time (albeit, it was a significant one: a torn Achilles tendon prevented him from playing in the final 12 games of the 2020 season for the Atlanta Falcons).
Kazee was taking first-team reps at free safety throughout organized team activities and minicamp. Of course, that was the result of Minkah Fitzpatrick sitting out team drills while he and the Steelers negotiated a contract extension. Still, Kazee’s status as the top backup safety (perhaps even as an alternative at strong safety to Terrell Edmunds) makes him an intriguing new veteran piece.
Kazee does have 12 interceptions over his past 50 games played. Tomlin has always been attracted to defensive backs with those kinds of ball skills. Expect the defensive coaching staff to get Kazee involved in their game plans.
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