The Pittsburgh Steelers have been shuffling their safeties all season due to injury and ineffectiveness, and now one of the veterans is gone.

Juan Thornhill was placed on waivers on Monday morning after an all-night flight from the West Coast following the Steelers' 25-10 loss to the Los Angeles Chargers at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, Calif. In a corresponding move, the Steelers claimed safety Sebastian Castro off waivers from the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

The Steelers made just a modest investment in Thornhill, signing him to a one-year, $3-million contract in the offseason as a free agent. The 30-year-old played in all nine games this season, starting once. Thornhill had 38 tackles, including one for loss, one forced fumble, and one pass defended.

Pro Football Focus ranked Thornhill last among the 91 qualified safeties with a grade of 36.9 as he played 49 percent of the Steelers' defensive snaps. That was a steep drop off from last season when PFF gave Thornhill a 65.5 grade in his second of two seasons with the Cleveland Browns.

Though you usually get what you pay for, there was reason to believe that Thornhill could help the Steelers.

Thornton spent his first four professional seasons with the Kansas City Chiefs, who drafted him in the second round in 2019 from Virginia. He was a starter on two Super Bowl championship teams before moving on to the Browns, who released him in February. In his seven-year career, Thornhill has eight interceptions, two fumble recoveries, and one sack.

The tandem of free safety Jalen Ramsey and strong safety Kyle Dugger has started the last two games, and coach Mike Tomlin has said he wants to stick with those two trade acquisitions. Ramsey began this season as the slot cornerback after being acquired from the Miami Dolphins in the offseason. The Steelers traded with the New England Patriots for Dugger two weeks ago.

Castro signed with the Steelers as an undrafted free agent from Iowa in April and began the season on the practice squad. The Buccaneers signed him on Sept. 30, and he appeared in one game with them, playing six snaps on special teams.

Castro gives the Steelers a third backup safety option, along with Chuck Clark and Jabrill Peppers.