Pittsburgh Steelers make smart free agent addition
The Pittsburgh Steelers made a shrewd move on Tuesday and signed free agent defensive lineman Larry Ogunjobi to a one-year deal, according to ESPN's Adam Schefter. Ogunjobi spent the first four years of his career with the Cleveland Browns before landing with the Cincinnati Bengals in 2021. In 2021, Ogunjobi had the best season of […]
The Pittsburgh Steelers made a shrewd move on Tuesday and signed free agent defensive lineman Larry Ogunjobi to a one-year deal, according to ESPN's Adam Schefter.
Ogunjobi spent the first four years of his career with the Cleveland Browns before landing with the Cincinnati Bengals in 2021.
In 2021, Ogunjobi had the best season of his young career. The former UNC-Charlotte standout totaled seven sacks and 49 tackles. He also had 12 tackles for loss (a career-high).
Earlier this offseason, Ogunjobi agreed to a deal with the Chicago Bears. The Ogunjobi signing was going to be the Bears' big offseason addition, but the deal was nixed when Chicago didn't like what they saw on Ogunjobi's physical (he suffered a foot injury in the first round of the playoffs this past season which required surgery). He had initially agreed to a three-year deal worth $40.5 million. The Bears weren't comfortable spending that amount of cash after Ogunjobi's physical.
This could be a tremendous value for Pittsburgh. If healthy, Ogunjobi can be a borderline Pro-Bowl defender. And if he's not healthy, then it's only a one-year deal and the Steelers won't be hampered with a salary-cap mess.
An added bonus is that Ogunjobi has played for two division rivals in recent years. That familiarity (and whatever intel he might have) will definitely be beneficial to the Steelers this season.
The terms of Ogunjobi's deal with Pittsburgh haven't been disclosed yet.
Featured image via Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports
