The Denver Broncos have a pair of former Alabama cornerbacks after announcing the signing of Levi Wallace on Monday.
Wallace joins Patrick Surtain II in the Denver secondary. They were not teammates with the Crimson Tide. Wallace’s first NFL season in 2018 was Surtain’s first season at Alabama.
Wallace has started 70 NFL games even though he was not drafted after completing his college career with the Tide’s CFP national-championship team in 2017.
Wallace began the 2023 season in the Pittsburgh Steelers’ starting lineup, saw his playing time diminish as second-round rookie Joey Porter Jr. reached the field and returned to regular duty when injuries hit the secondary in the final month.
In 16 games, with nine starts, Wallace played 726 defensive snaps and recorded 38 tackles, two interceptions and 11 passes defended in 2023
In his three NFL seasons, Surtain has been a Pro Bowler twice and a first-team All-Pro once. But the cornerback position opposite Surtain is open for competition. Fabrian Moreau, who started 11 games at cornerback for Denver in 2023, was not re-signed.
“You’re always looking for corners and edge (rushers) — value-type positions,” Broncos general manager George Paton said at a press conference last week to discuss the NFL Draft. “We like our corner group. We have one of the best corners in the league. We like our nickel (Ja’Quan McMillian). We have two young outside guys, Riley (Moss) and Damarri (Mathis). …
“You’re always looking to add at those type of positions.”
Mathis started the first six games of his second season, then played 27 more defensive snaps in the rest of 2023 after being replaced by Moreau. Moss played 23 defensive snaps as a rookie last season.
Wallace had been an unrestricted free agent since March 13.
Wallace signed a two-year, $8 million contract with the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2022.
Wallace joined Pittsburgh after starting all 52 games he played in four seasons with the Buffalo Bills, even though he spent the first nine games of his rookie season on the practice squad.