The Pittsburgh Steelers made a move to bolster their depth at the tackle position on Monday as it was announced that the team has come to terms with veteran free agent tackle Guy Whimper. In addition to Whimper, undrafted rookie free agent linebacker/safety Terence Garvin was also signed to the roster.
To make room for both Whimper and Garvin on the roster, the team released undrafted rookie center Ivory Wade and rookie defensive tackle Anthony Rashad White.
Whimper was originally drafted by the New York Giants in the fourth round of the 2006 NFL Draft out of East Carolina. He played for the Giants from 2006-09 and with the Jacksonville Jaguars from 2010-12. Whimper has started 22 regular season games and played in 67 career games.
Last season with the Jaguars, Whimper played just less than 400 snaps mostly at right tackle. He gave up five sacks last season with three of those coming in the first three weeks. Following his rough start in 2012, Whimper lost the starting right tackle job to Cameron Bradfield, but eventually regained the spot in Week 16 after Bradfield was benched.
The signing of Whimper will at least give the Steelers an experienced body at tackle as the offseason progresses, but there are no guarantees that he will make the final 53 man roster. The signing of Whimper might also be a sign that Marcus Gilbert, who had surgery on his ankle back in December, might not yet be ready to participate in the team\’s first OTA session later this month.
Garvin, an outside linebacker and safety prospect, went undrafted out of West Virginia this year, but was brought in by the Steelers for a tryout this past weekend during the rookie camp. He played in 47 career games at West Virginia, registering 235 tackles, 10.5 sacks and three forced fumbles. He also intercepted three passes, returning one for a touchdown, to go along with 11 passes defensed.
