Wednesday links: What are your expectations for DeShon Elliott in 2026?

It’s Wednesday, which means it’s time for a weekly Steelers links roundup at BTSC. But first, let’s take a look around the AFC North:

• Ravens have offered Tyler Linderbaum a ‘market-setting’ contract; will not use franchise tag (Baltimore Beatdown)
• Bengals still open to tag and trade of Trey Hendrickson, per report (Cincy Jungle)
• Cleveland Browns Free Agent Review: RB Jerome Ford’s value to team was minimal last year (Dawgs by Nature)

Now, onto some Steelers news and discussion:

Lamar Jackson, Kyle Van Noy sound off on NFL’s admission of errors in Steelers-Ravens game

(From Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio): The Week 14 Ravens-Steelers game featured multiple mistakes by the officials. At the time, the NFL admitted one. Today, the league admitted another.

The third was apparently admitted, until it wasn’t.

For starters, the league admitted after the game that an unnecessary roughness penalty called on defensive tackle Travis Jones was not a foul. On Tuesday, the NFL confirmed to PFT that the decision to use replay review to reverse a Ravens interception by linebacker Teddye Buchanan into a catch by Steelers quarterback Aaron Rodgers was an error.

And of course, the Isaiah Likely touchdown-that-wasn’t still remains a point of contention.

Jackson and Van Noy took to social media to criticize the NFL’s handling of the situation, and after the admitted errors, it’s not like they don’t have a point. However, when the two teams played again in Week 18, the Steelers won once again with a playoff spot on the line — and less controversy.

The Pittsburgh Steelers want to keep their star edge rushers — but there’s one big problem

(From PennLive’s Nick Farabaugh): “He’s obviously someone that we’d like to have around for a long time, and, you know, this defense has been based on those outside pass rushers for a long time, so you can’t ever have enough of them,” Khan said. “Yeah, he wants to play more. And I think we all like to have Nick on the field more.”

Herbig wanting to play more is albatross in this situation. They can increase his snap count from where it is now, but even with that in mind, his true ceiling for snaps is still capped at a reasonable amount with Watt and Highsmith around.

Herbig played 60% of the Steelers’ defensive snaps in the 15 games he played in 2025, although that number includes his six starts. When T.J. Watt and Alex Highsmith were both healthy, Herbig tended to spend more snaps off the field than on it.

Former Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver joins Penn State football staff

(From PHIL17’s George Stockburger): Former Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Kashif Moore is joining the Penn State footballcoaching staff.

Moore was officially hired as the Nittany Lions’ wide receivers coach on Tuesday after spending three seasons coaching at UConn.

Moore never recorded an NFL regular season catch, but he stuck around in the league for a while, especially for an undrafted free agent. He spent chunks of 2013 and 2014 in Pittsburgh.

NFL Films and Pat McAfee celebrate Pittsburgh with ‘The Football Town’

(From TribLive’s Colin Williams): “The Football Town,” a celebration of Pittsburgh’s gridiron genealogy, premieres Saturday to science center visitors.

“This is our first real activation headed up to the NFL Draft,” VisitPITTSBURGH Vice President of Sports Events Jim Britt told members of local media during Monday’s preview. “We believe that football is just a pure part of the culture of Western Pennsylvania.”

Sponsored by U.S. Steel and produced by NFL Films, “The Football Town” follows the sport through Friday night high school matchups and Saturday morning Pop Warner games to on-field action at Acrisure Stadium. ESPN analyst and Plum native Pat McAfee narrates “The Football Town.” It’s NFL Films’ first immersive-format documentary, according to NFL Films coordinating producer Neil Zender.

The documentary will premiere Saturday, Feb. 28 at Pittsburgh’s Kamin Science Center’s Rangos Giant Cinema.

Steelers starters Darnell Washington, DeShon Elliott expected to recover from injury

(From TribLive’s Chris Adamski): “I’m looking forward to DeShon just being DeShon,” Khan said of 2026. “He’s really a good football player, and he’s working hard, and right now everything’s on schedule (with his injury recovery) is my understanding. And once we get to opening day, I don’t think there will be any limitations.” 

Elliott has been a surprisingly forgotten part of the Steelers roster this year after missing much of 2025 with a hyperextended knee.

What are your expectations for DeShon Elliott in 2026?

Elliott played in just five games in 2025, but still put up respectable numbers on the stat sheet, with 38 total tackles, one sack, one interception, two passes defensed, one forced fumble, and three quarterback hits.

Lost in the conversation is that Elliott is still just 28 — he has plenty of years left in his prime. And while he’s had a number of injured reserve trips over his career up to this point, he’s been durable for the most part in recent seasons — with three straight years of 14-plus games played before 2025. And per the team, he’s on track in his recovery.

Elliott, who has developed into one of the best run defending safeties in the NFL, was a key loss for much of last season. The team’s repeated attempts to fix the safety position after his injury contributed to many of their defensive issues. Having him back in 2026 might be a bigger boost than many are expecting.

What are your expectations for DeShon Elliott entering 2026? Join the BTSC community and let us know in the comments!