It’s not unusual for several players to need offseason surgeries and while we already know of a few Pittsburgh Steelers players who have already undergone operations since the team’s January playoff loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars, you can now add defensive end L.T. Walton to that list.
Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin confirmed Tuesday morning at the annual AFC coaches breakfast at the NFL owners’ meetings in Orlando, FL that Walton has undergone offseason shoulder surgery, per The Athletic. Tomlin isn’t currently sure if the former sixth-round draft pick out of Central Michigan will be rehabbed enough to participate in the team’s offseason practices, however.
Walton, who is now in his fourth season with the Steelers, registered 12 total tackles last season in addition to having two sacks and one pass defensed. He dressed and played in all 16 games last season to the tune of just under 150 total defensive snaps played.
The Steelers might draft another defensive lineman this year, or at the very least, add one or two more as undrafted free agents. In short, Walton’s spot on the Steelers 2018 53-man roster is far from guaranteed at this point. We’ll have to wait and see if he’s able to practice some during the spring and if he doesn’t, one would hope and think he should be ready by the start of training camp in late July.
