Skip to main content
Join Now

Pittsburgh Steelers sign free-agent S Juan Thornhill from Cleveland Browns

Brian Jones Profile Picby:Brian Jones•03/17/25•

brianjones_93

Juan Thornhill Browns Steelers
Nov 21, 2024; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Cleveland Browns safety Juan Thornhill (1) celebrates a missed field goal by the Pittsburgh Steelers during the first quarter at Huntington Bank Field Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Scott Galvin-Imagn Images

The Pittsburgh Steelers are signing free agent safety Juan Thornhill to a one-year contract, according to Mike Garafolo and Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network. Thornhill spent the last two seasons with the Cleveland Browns.

Thornhill signed with the Browns in March 2023 after spending his first four seasons with the Kansas City Chiefs. In his four years with the Chiefs, the former Virginia Cavaliers safety was named to the All-Rookie team in 2019 and helped the Chiefs win two Super Bowls.

In Juan Thornhill’s first season with the Browns in 2023, he played in 11 games and notched 54 tackles, and one pass defended. This past season, Thornhill played in 11 games and recorded 49 tackles and three pass deflections.

Why the Cleveland Browns released Juan Thornhill

Cleveland officially released Thornhill last week. He dealt with injuries during his two seasons with the team, suffering a calf injury in 2023 and 2024.

“First of all, great individual,” Executive Vice President of Football Operations and General Manager Andrew Berry said of Thornhill on Feb. 25 at the NFL Scouting Combine, per the Browns’ official website. “Thought he played well when he was on the field. But the big thing was just availability. A guy that had been pretty durable during his time in Kansas City but just had a really tough time with the calf injuries throughout his time with us. He’ll go on and play well and catch on, but unfortunately just didn’t work out with us.”

Before the start of the 2024 season, Thornhill spoke to the Akron Beacon Journal about his newborn daughter giving him extra motivation. “I’ve always been a person that was very motivated in life,” he said. “Don’t really need anybody to really push me. I can push myself. But I definitely could say me having my daughter has changed me big time. Everything that, like I said, I do is for her, and I think twice about everything that I do because one little mistake can cause some type of problems with her or something like that. So everything that I do, like I said, is for her.”