The Pittsburgh Steelers’ 2025 offseason practices concluded in the middle of June, and next up is the team’s annual training camp, which gets underway next week at Saint Vincent College in Latrobe. Ahead of that, we will preview the team’s offseason roster, three players at a time. This Steelers roster preview, which includes an outlook for every player, will be done alphabetically by last name to make it easy to follow. This series figures to exceed 90 players as the team can carry 91 players during the offseason due to the allowance of one international player designation.
The next three players we preview ahead of the Steelers’ 2025 training camp are Skylar Thompson, Juan Thornhill, and Cory Trice Jr.
QB Skylar Thompson: The Steelers signed Thompson to a one-year Reserve/Future deal in January and at the time of his signing he was the only quarterback that the Steelers had under contract for the 2025 season.
Thompson, who was selected by the Miami Dolphins in the seventh round of the 2022 NFL Draft, spent his first three NFL seasons with the Dolphins. He ended the 2024 season on the Dolphins’ practice squad, however.
During his time with the Dolphins, Thompson appeared in 10 regular-season games and made three starts. He went 1-2 in those three games. He completed 81-of-138 passes in regular-season play for 721 yards with one touchdown and three interceptions in addition to being sacked six times. He also rushed 15 times for 25 yards in those 10 games.
As a rookie in 2022, Thompson also started one playoff game for the Dolphins. He was 18-of-45 passing in a loss for 220 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions. He also rushed twice for three yards in that playoff game and was sacked four times.
his college career at Kansas State, Thompson, who measured in at the 2022 NFL Scouting Combine at 6017, 217-pounds, completed 552-of-885 passes for 7,134 yards with 42 touchdowns and 16 interceptions in 45 games played over five seasons. He also rushed for 1,087 yards and 26 touchdowns on 355 attempts during his college career.
Outlook: The Steelers are likely to keep just three quarterbacks on their 53-man roster this year and with two of those spots going to Aaron Rodgers and Mason Rudolph, that leaves one spot remaining for Thompson to fight rookie Will Howard for. Howard is a draft pick and even though he was selected in the sixth round, he will likely need to have a miserable training camp and preseason to lose out to Thompson for the third and final quarterback spot on the roster.
Thompson does have a lot to play for this summer, especially during the preseason. While he seems destined to be jettisoned from Pittsburgh barring injuries to the quarterback room, another NFL team could add Thompson to its 53-man roster as a third string quarterback assuming the Steelers finally cut him.
Even if Thompson doesn’t find a 53-man roster spot in the NFL by Week 1, he could start the regular season on another team’s practice squad, especially a team that carries just two quarterbacks on its 53-man roster.
In summation, barring an injury this summer to Rodgers, Rudolph, or Howard, don’t expect Thompson to be in Pittsburgh come Week 1. The most interesting aspect related to Thompson in the meantime relates to how many preseason snaps the Steelers will be able to get him in their three exhibition contests.
S Juan Thornhill: The Steelers signed Thornhill to a one-year, $3 million contract in March and that came on the heels of the Cleveland Browns releasing him in February.
Thornhill, a Virginia product, was selected by the Kansas City Chiefs in the second round of the 2019 NFL Draft. After playing his first four NFL seasons with the Chiefs, Thornhill signed a three-year, $21 million contract with the Browns as an unrestricted free agent in 2023.
In his first six NFL seasons, Thornhill registered 337 total regular-season tackles, six tackles for loss, seven quarterback hits, eight interceptions, 24 passes defensed, one sack, one forced fumble, and one fumble recovery in 87 games played with 74 starts.
For his career, Thornhill has also played in 10 playoff games with seven starts. In those 10 playoff games he registered 32 total tackles, one tackle for loss, and 10 passes defensed.
Thornhill has logged 4,663 regular-season snaps on defense and 232 more on special teams in his first six NFL seasons.
Over his last two seasons with the Browns, Thornhill dealt with a calf injury that resulted in him missing six regular-season games in both 2023 and 2024. That played a big part in the Browns terminating his contract in February.
Throughout his NFL career, Thornhill has predominantly been used as a free safety on defense. He will turn 30 in October.
Outlook: On the heels of the Steelers trading S Minkah Fitzpatrick, Thornhill, at least for the time being, looks like the team’s new starting free safety. It will be interesting to see if the Steelers add another potential free safety starter prior to the start of the 2025 regular season, however.
The Steelers will look to use quite a bit of sub-packages on defense again in 2025 and several of those could have four cornerbacks on the field at the same time. In normal base, nickel defenses, and a few other sub-packages, there is a good chance Thornhill will be the free safety, assuming he remains atop the depth chart at the position.
For his NFL career, Thornhill has been a slightly-above-average player against the pass. His tackling, however, has dipped in the last few seasons. According to Pro Football Focus, he missed 21 tackles over the last two seasons despite only playing 22 total games.
While Thornhill does have eight career interceptions to his credit, he did not record any in his last two seasons. He also only has one career forced fumble as he enters his first season with the Steelers.
Overall, the outlook for Thornhill when it comes to the 2025 season is a bit murky as the Steelers enter training camp. That mostly revolves around us being in wait-and-see mode when it comes to the team potentially adding a veteran safety who might wind up starting. At the very least, Thornhill should be on the Steelers’ 53-man roster this year and he could see extensive playing time on defense if another free safety isn’t ultimately added.
Thornhill is playing on a one-year deal with the Steelers with hopes he can return to his 2022 form. If he does that, the Steelers might consider re-signing him next offseason.
CB Cory Trice Jr.: Selected by the Steelers in the seventh round of the 2023 NFL Draft out of Purdue, Trice unfortunately missed his rookie season due to a knee injury that he sustained during training camp.
Trice recovered in plenty of time to participate fully in the team’s 2024 training camp, and he easily made the 53-man roster out of the preseason. However, after playing in the Steelers’ first three regular-season games, a hamstring injury resulted in Trice being placed on the team’s Reserve/Injured list as a designated-to-return player in Week 4. Trice remained on IR through Week 13 of the regular season.
Once activated from the Reserve/Injured list in December, Trice was an inactive player for the Steelers’ Weeks 14 and 15 games of the regular season. He did, however, play in the Steelers’ final three regular-season games before being inactive again for the team’s lone playoff game in January.
For the 2024 season, Trice played in just six games on his way to registering 21 total tackles, one tackle for loss, one interception, and two passes defensed. He logged 193 regular-season snaps on defense to go along with 60 more on special teams. Trice mostly played as an outside cornerback in 2024, but he did see some limited work in the slot in sub-packages.
Outlook: The 2025 season is certainly a big one for Trice and mostly because he’s missed a lot of his first two NFL seasons due to injuries. The Steelers still don’t know if they can fully trust him on defense as he’s yet to play 200 regular-season snaps.
The Steelers invested heavily in their cornerback room this offseason. Not only did they sign veteran cornerbacks Darius Slay and Brandin Echols in free agency, but they also traded for veteran CB Jalen Ramsey at the end of June. Veteran CB James Peirre, who is mainly a special teams asset, was also re-signed during the offseason. The Steelers also selected CB Donte Kent in the seventh round of this year’s draft, and he’ll join young cornerbacks Joey Porter Jr. and Beanie Bishop Jr. in that position group room as well.
Obviously, Ramsey, Porter, and Slay should be roster locks this summer. Echols certainly seems to be on track to be one as well. At most, the Steelers are likely to keep six cornerbacks on their initial 53-man roster to start their 2025 regular season. If that is indeed the final number, Trice might have some serious work ahead of him this summer.
With Pierre a known commodity on special teams, Trice might need to beat him out to make the 53-man roster. I wouldn’t bet my house either way this summer when it comes to Trice’s chances of making the Week 1 roster.
Should Trice wind up making the 53-man roster, he’ll likely be asked to play some on defense in dime packages in addition to some on special teams. Should Trice fail to make the 53-man roster, he could wind up starting the 2025 regular season on the Steelers’ practice squad.
More than anything as we look ahead to the start of training camp, Trice must stay fully healthy. He has a bad injury history dating back to college, and thus he finally needs to show in 2025 that he can stay healthy for a full season. The Steelers won’t be scared to move on from Trice as they only have a seventh-round draft pick invested in him.
Previous Posts In This Series:
90 In 30: Steelers 2025 Training Camp Preview Series — Calvin Anderson, Spencer Anderson, Calvin Austin III
90 In 30: Steelers 2025 Training Camp Preview Series — Keeanu Benton, Beanie Bishop Jr., Yahya Black
90 In 30: Steelers 2025 Training Camp Preview Series — Chris Boswell, Nick Broeker, Carson Bruener
90 In 30: Steelers 2025 Training Camp Preview Series — Sebastian Castro, Dylan Cook, Domenique Davis
90 In 30: Steelers 2025 Training Camp Preview Series — Brandin Echols, Daniel Ekuale, DeShon Elliott
90 In 30: Steelers 2025 Training Camp Preview Series — Troy Fautanu, Minkah Fitzpatrick, Zach Frazier
90 In 30: Steelers 2025 Training Camp Preview Series — Pat Freiermuth, Kenneth Gainwell, JJ Galbreath
90 In 30: Steelers 2025 Training Camp Preview Series — Derrick Harmon, Devin Harper, Malik Harrison
90 In 30: Steelers 2025 Training Camp Preview Series — Nick Herbig, Cameron Heyward, Connor Heyward
90 In 30: Steelers 2025 Training Camp Preview Series — Alex Highsmith, Cole Holcomb, Will Howard
90 In 30: Steelers 2025 Training Camp Preview Series — Evan Hull, Max Hurleman, D’Shawn Jamison
90 In 30: Steelers 2025 Training Camp Preview Series — Brandon Johnson, Kaleb Johnson, Quindell Johnson
90 In 30: Steelers 2025 Training Camp Preview Series — Cameron Johnston, Broderick Jones, Steven Jones
90 In 30: Steelers 2025 Training Camp Preview Series — Donte Kent, Miles Killebrew, Christian Kuntz
90 In 30: Steelers 2025 Training Camp Preview Series — DeMarvin Leal, Logan Lee, Montana Lemonious-Craig
90 In 30: Steelers 2025 Training Camp Preview Series — Eku Leota, Isaiahh Loudermilk, Dean Lowry
90 In 30: Steelers 2025 Training Camp Preview Series — Ryan McCollum, Mason McCormick, Cameron McCutcheon
90 In 30: Steelers 2025 Training Camp Preview Series — Lance McCutcheon, Kyler McMichael, DK Metcalf
90 In 30: Steelers 2025 Training Camp Preview Series — Scotty Miller, Jeremiah Moon, Doug Nester
90 In 30: Steelers 2025 Training Camp Preview Series — Esezi Otomewo, Cordarrelle Patterson, James Pierre
90 In 30: Steelers 2025 Training Camp Preview Series — Joey Porter Jr., Patrick Queen, Mark Robinson
90 In 30: Steelers 2025 Training Camp Preview Series — Aaron Rodgers, Mason Rudolph, Ben Sauls
90 In 30: Steelers 2025 Training Camp Preview Series — Jack Sawyer, Max Scharping, Trey Sermon
90 In 30: Steelers 2025 Training Camp Preview Series — Isaac Seumalo, Ben Skowronek, Jacob Slade
90 In 30: Steelers 2025 Training Camp Preview Series — Darius Slay, Roc Taylor, DJ Thomas-Jones
