As expected, the Pittsburgh Steelers have issued backup offensive lineman B.J. Finney a restricted free agent tender ahead of this year’s deadline.
According to Tom Pelissero of the NFL Network on Wednesday, Finney, a former undrafted free agent out of Kansas State, received a second-round tender from the Steelers that comes with a $3.095 million salary for 2019. This second-round tender virtually assures that Finney will remain in Pittsburgh in 2019 as no team will sign him to an offer sheet with that high of compensation needing to be involved.
Finney, who has made 9 total starts so far during his career with the Steelers, has mostly seen action at guard. He is however, the Steelers backup center behind starter Maurkice Pouncey and has logged some limited playing time at that position as well.
Finney being restricted tendered at a second-round level is good insurance for the Steelers should fellow guard Ramon Foster wind up signing elsewhere during free agency. Foster is set to become an unrestricted free agent at the start of the new league year.
After spending his rookie season on the Steelers practice squad, Finney made the team’s 53-man roster in 2016 and has remained on it ever since. The Steelers could potentially decide to sign Finney to a long-term deal later in the offseason and before the start of the regular season.
As previously reported on Tuesday, the Steelers also restricted tendered tight end Xavier Grimble at the lowest right-of-first-refusal level.
