Report: Pittsburgh Steelers to sign former Jets CB Brandin Echols

The Pittsburgh Steelers are signing former New York Jets cornerback Brandin Echols, sources tell NFL insider Jordan Schultz. Echols played his first four NFL seasons in New York.

During his time with the Jets, Echols totaled five interceptions, including two this past year. He was drafted by New York in the sixth round of the 2021 NFL Draft out of Kentucky, No. 200 overall.

Echols played a total of 57 games across his four seasons with the Jets. His most productive season came during his rookie year. Echols totaled 63 tackles and recorded two interceptions, including a pick-six, in 2021 across 14 appearances.

His production dropped off over the next two seasons, totaling 18 tackles and one interception during 2022 and 2023 combined. Echols followed that up by returning to the Jets’ regular defensive lineup in 2024, erupting for 40 tackles and a pair of picks during that span. In all, Echols has recorded 121 tackles, five interceptions and 16 pass breakups.

Echols once signed, the former Jet joins a secondary featuring the likes of Joey Porter Jr., DeShon Elliott and Minkah Fitzpatrick. It remains to be seen if Pittsburgh will continue to bolster their defensive backs room.

The Steelers finished the 2024-25 season with a 10-7 record, making the playoffs for the second year in a row and finishing with a .500 record or better for the 21st consecutive season. However, Pittsburgh has not won a postseason game since the 2017 Divisional Round.

Echols never experienced a winning season in New York. The Jets finished 7-10 in both 2022 and 2023, and earned a 5-12 finish this past season. The former Kentucky standout will look to add to the Steelers’ winning culture right away as a defensive back who could find himself in Pittsburgh’s regular rotation by the beginning of the season.

New York Jets to cut Aaron Rodgers, suffer cap hit of $49 million

The New York Jets are releasing Aaron Rodgers once the 2025 NFL league year officially begins on Wednesday afternoon. Per Adam Schefter of ESPN, the Jets will take on the $49 million in dead money by cutting Rodgers.

“He’s being designated as a post-June 1 cut, meaning they’ll carry his $21M cap hit until June 1, when it drops to $14M—saving $7M. But they then will absorb a $35M dead cap hit in 2026,” Schefter wrote on X/Twitter.

On3’s Brian Jones contributed to this report.