The Pittsburgh Steelers, in a somewhat surprising move, are bringing back nose tackle Daniel McCullers, according to what his agent tweeted out a few minutes ago.
McCullers was drafted in the 6th round of the 2014 draft by the Steelers as a high-upside player given his rare size and length. So far, he hasn’t lived up to those expectations, serving as mostly an inactive player on the team’s roster last season. He officially dressed for five games in 2017 and has 1.5 career sacks. He played 13 snaps last year for Pittsburgh, recording one tackle.
It seemed like the Steelers were done with McCullers after John Mitchell basically called this a make-or-break year for him. Of course, the team hired Karl Dunbar to be the DL coach and perhaps he – or Keith Butler – had a different evaluation.
Financial terms of the deal weren’t disclosed but you can assume it’s a one-year contract for the minimum, possible qualifying for the minimum salary benefit which would reduce his cap charge even more. This doesn’t prevent the Steelers from adding competition to the bottom of the DL roster during the draft, either. The team has shown interest in Alabama NT Joshua Frazier, dining with him at his Pro Day, and could be on the team’s radar in the mid to late rounds.
Look for McCullers’ contract to be exactly like the one running back Fitzgerald Toussaint just recently signed.
