Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin hinted during his post draft press conference that the team still could work the free agent market leading up to training camp and it appears they are having a few free agent visitors on Wednesday. According to Adam Shefter on Twitter, former Cincinnati Bengals linebacker Brandon Johnson and former Buffalo Bills kicker Dave Rayner are visiting the Steelers today.
Johnson was originally drafted by the Arizona Cardinals in the fifth round of the 2006 NFL Draft after playing his college football at Louisville. Johnson spent parts of two seasons with the Cardinals and signed with the Bengals in 2008, where he started 9 games at weak-side linebacker. He stayed with the Bengals through the 2011 season and started a total of 16 games for them over the course of 4 seasons. Johnson is a strong special teams contributor and was voted the Bengals special teams captain in 2010.
Rayner was originally drafted by the Indianapolis Colts in the sixth round of the 2005 NFL Draft after playing his college football at Michigan State. He has kicked in the regular season for eight different teams over the course of his NFL career and owns a 72.2% kicking percentage. In 2011 with the Bills, Rayner was 10 of 15 with a long of 56 yards after taking over for the injured Rian Lindell. The Steelers appear to looking to add more competition at training camp for incumbent Shaun Suisham as they also reportedly put in a waiver claim for Jake Rogers, who was released from the Tampa Bay Buccaneers this week. That claim was lost to the Dallas Cowboys. The Steelers also signed Missouri kicker Grant Ressel as an undrafted free agent following the draft.
