Terrell Edmunds isn’t taking it personally, but he is taking the Steelers declining to pick up the fifth-year option on his contract as motivation.
Edmunds, the former first-round pick of Pittsburgh in 2018, is about enter the most important year of his career, and is looking to cash in. But the uncertainties and emotions that pop up when a team says they don’t want you around — or at least can’t afford to have you around — after this season can be difficult to process.
“My emotions to it were just, man, it’s my contract year now,” Edmunds said Tuesday at Steelers minicamp. “Everything is on a whole new level. Every game is like an interview. You’ve got to bet on yourself, double down on yourself and just put in the hard work”
Edmunds would have made about $6.7 million in 2022 had the Steelers decided to pick up the option. Instead, the 24-year-old now will either play out the final year of his deal and hit free agency, or will have to sign a long-term deal with a team that has more productive players to lock up first.
“Of course I would love to come back to Steeler nation,” Edmunds said. “They’re the people that gave me the opportunity to become an NFL (player) and made all of my dreams come true.”
One of the men who gave him the opportunity to live his NFL dream was also the man who informed him that, barring an extension, that journey may not continue in Pittsburgh beyond this winter.
“Coach (Mike) Tomlin, he called me personally and just told me they weren’t going to pick up my fifth-year option this year,” Edmunds said. “He told me that doesn’t mean that business is over, but to just stay motivated and come out here and do what I can.”
‘Business’ is part of the job for Tomlin. And sometimes that means dishing out unfavorable news. And it's something that he has recent experience in doing. Artie Burns was a first-round pick of the Steelers in 2016, and also did not have his fifth-year option picked up by the team.
“You know, this is grown man business,” Tomlin said. “This is football at its highest level. Tough decisions and tough conversations happen daily and it’s just part of the environment that we’re in. I think we all understand that and we all try to approach it as professional and sensitive as a manor as we can.”
Edmunds has to walk the line between playing for a new contract and more money, and not overdoing it when on the field. And he’ll have to do that within a secondary that, on paper, is not as talented as the one in which Edmunds had a respectable season in 2020.
Gone is slot cornerback Mike Hilton. Gone is starting corner Steve Nelson. The other starting corner, Joe Haden, is 32 and showed some light signs of slowing down a year ago. But Edmunds seems more optimistic about what his team has than he is pessimistic about what it has to replace.
“We definitely lost some good guys, (Hilton) and (Nelson),” he said. “But (cornerback Cam Sutton) was pretty much in our mix last year, too. He’s already adjusted to us, we already know how Cam plays and we know that he’s a good player.
“We’ve got a lot of young guys in the mix that can come in and help us out, so we’ve just got to keep on working and, right now, this is the time to really merge come as one.”
Edmunds will also have the benefit of, for the first time, going through a legitimate offseason and preseason with his safety partner, Minkah Fitzpatrick.
The Steelers traded for Fitzpatrick after the season began in 2019. Last year, offseason workouts and preparation were cut down due to COVID-19. But now the two can mesh even more, and that has Edmunds hopeful.
“I feel like we’ve grown each year,” he said. “Every year we’ve been getting better together. Each year we’re pushing each other to get better and it’s just that chemistry part with everything. I know what he’s going to do just by looking at him.”
Edmunds’ value in a contract extension is tough to pin down. He was generally thought of as a liability in his first two seasons. But since he arrived in Pittsburgh, he has been reliable, playing 2,866 defensive snaps. He played 93 percent of snaps in 2018, 96 percent in 2019 and 84 percent in 2020, a season in which he missed some time with a shoulder injury.
But Pittsburgh general manager Kevin Colbert believes that 2020 was Edmunds’ best year. That might mean that the Steelers could look to keep some stability, and keep Edmunds around longer. The economics of the sport, however, could mean losing another starting member of the secondary relatively soon.
But perhaps the stars will align perfectly for both sides either before the start of the regular season, or after it.
“Definitely still hoping that, maybe next year, we can make something happen,” Edmunds said. “I guess, right now, I have to bet on myself, and that’s what I’m doing.”