With the 2020 NFL league year set to get underway late Wednesday, and the legal tampering period starting a few days prior to that, it’s time to do our annual look back at all of the true unrestricted free agents the Pittsburgh Steelers have signed dating back to 2000, the first year that general manager Kevin Colbert was with the organization.
Over the course of the last 20 offseasons, the Steelers have signed quite a few outside free agents. However, when it comes to “true unrestricted free agents”, meaning players who were property of another team prior to the new league starting, and who were signed prior to June 1, the Steelers have only signed 50 that meet that criteria dating back to 2000.
Before any of you tell me that I forgot about players such as cornerback Joe Haden (8/30/2017, 3-years, $27M), linebacker Mark Barron (3/19/2019, 2-years, $12M) wide receiver Lance Moore (3/21/2014, 2-years, $3M) and running back DeAngelo Williams (3/13/2015, 2-years, $4M), please remember that all three were actually street free agents when they were signed as all had been released by their former teams.
As you can see in the table below, I have included the total amount of regular season games that each player saw action in during their time with the Steelers in addition to the number of regular season games each player started. I also have the original free agent contract terms listed for each player.
In short, and as I warn every year at this time of the offseason, I wouldn’t expect the Steelers to sign very many true unrestricted free agents in the coming weeks and especially not this year with the team being so close up against the salary cap. If they do sign a few, look for them to be very cheap deals.
| DATE | POS | PLAYER | PRIOR TEAM | G | GS | CONTRACT |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2/14/2000 | NT | Kimo von Oelhoffen | Bengals | 95 | 94 | 4-years, $10M |
| 2/22/2000 | DE | Chris Sullivan | Patriots | 15 | 2 | 3-years, $4.73M |
| 2/28/2000 | G | Rich Tylski | Jaguars | 28 | 26 | 3-years, $3.24M |
| 2/28/2000 | QB | Kent Graham | Giants | 14 | 5 | 3-years, $5.1M |
| 5/30/2000 | S | Brent Alexander | Panthers | 64 | 64 | 2-years, $1.29M |
| 3/8/2001 | C | Jeff Hartings | Detroit | 91 | 89 | 6-years, $24.25M |
| 3/23/2001 | S | Mike Logan | Jaguars | 73 | 17 | 3-years, $3.1M |
| 4/20/2001 | LB | Mike Jones | Rams | 21 | 1 | 3-years, $2.75M |
| 3/25/2002 | K | Todd Peterson | Chiefs | 10 | 0 | 4-years, $3.975M |
| 4/5/2002 | LB | James Farrior | Jets | 154 | 154 | 3-years, $5.4M |
| 3/5/2003 | LB | Clint Kriewaldt | Detroit | 74 | 2 | 3-years, $2.38M |
| 3/17/2003 | T | Todd Fordham | Jaguars | 11 | 6 | 3-years, $2.38M |
| 3/6/2004 | P | Chris Gardocki | Browns | 48 | 0 | 5-years, $6.3M |
| 3/9/2004 | RB | Duce Staley | Eagles | 16 | 11 | 5-years, $14M |
| 3/10/2004 | DT | Travis Kirschke | 49ers | 92 | 18 | 4-years, $6.41M |
| 5/26/2004 | CB | Willie Williams | Seahawks | 20 | 11 | 1-year, $760K |
| 3/8/2005 | WR | Cedrick Wilson | 49ers | 47 | 14 | 4-years, $8M |
| 3/14/2006 | S | Ryan Clark | Redskins | 80 | 78 | 4-years, $7M |
| 3/16/2006 | DE | Rodney Bailey | Seahawks | 12 | 0 | 1-year, $625K |
| 3/10/2007 | C | Sean Mahan | Buccaneers | 16 | 16 | 5-years, $17M |
| 4/17/2007 | DT | Nick Eason | Browns | 55 | 11 | 1-year, $510K |
| 3/3/2008 | RB | Mewelde Moore | Vikings | 59 | 4 | 3-years, $4.95M |
| 3/12/2008 | LB | Keyaron Fox | Chiefs | 45 | 3 | 1-year, $645K |
| 4/24/2009 | CB | Keiwan Ratliff | Colts | 9 | 0 | 1-year, $620K |
| 5/1/2009 | WR | Shaun McDonald | Lions | 4 | 0 | 1-year, $620K |
| 3/8/2010 | WR | Arnaz Battle | 49ers | 25 | 0 | 3-years, $3.975M |
| 3/8/2010 | T | Jonathan Scott | Bills | 29 | 15 | 1-year, $540K |
| 3/8/2010 | S | Will Allen | Buccaneers | 30 | 0 | 3-years, $4.495M |
| 3/15/2010 | LB | Larry Foote | Lions | 31 | 5 | 3-years, $9.3M |
| 4/10/2012 | TE | Leonard Pope | Chiefs | 16 | 2 | 1-year, $725K |
| 3/13/2013 | QB | Bruce Gradkowski | Bengals | 1 | 0 | 3-years, $4.95M |
| 4/26/2013 | RB | LaRod Stephens-Howling | Cardinals | 1 | 0 | 1-year, $780K |
| 3/11/2014 | S | Mike Mitchell | Panthers | 61 | 60 | 5-years, $25M |
| 3/14/2014 | DT | Cam Thomas | Chargers | 32 | 10 | 2-years, $4M |
| 3/24/2014 | LB | Arthur Moats | Bills | 62 | 25 | 1-year, $795K |
| 3/28/2014 | RB | LeGarrette Blount | Patriots | 11 | 0 | 2-years, $3.85M |
| 4/2/2014 | WR | Darrius Heyward-Bey | Colts | 72 | 7 | 1-year, $795K |
| 3/10/2016 | TE | Ladarius Green | Chargers | 6 | 2 | 4-years, $20M |
| 3/15/2016 | T | Ryan Harris | Broncos | 4 | 0 | 2-years, $3.9M |
| 3/25/2016 | LB | Steven Johnson | Titans | 6 | 0 | 1-year, $815K |
| 3/31/2016 | DE | Ricardo Mathews | Chargers | 16 | 5 | 1-year, $760K |
| 5/17/2016 | TE | David Johnson | Chargers | 16 | 5 | 1-year, $760K |
| 3/15/2017 | WR | Justin Hunter | Bills | 12 | 1 | 1-year, $855K |
| 3/20/2017 | RB | Knile Davis | Chiefs | 0 | 0 | 1-year, $775K |
| 3/20/2017 | CB | Coty Sensabaugh | Titans | 29 | 14 | 1-year, $775K |
| 3/20/2017 | DE | Tyson Alualu | Jaguars | 47 | 12 | 2-years, $6M |
| 3/18/2018 | LB | Jon Bostic | Colts | 16 | 14 | 2-years, $4M |
| 3/20/2018 | S | Morgan Burnett | Packers | 11 | 2 | 3-years, $14.35M |
| 3/14/2019 | CB | Steven Nelson | Chiefs | 15 | 15 | 3-years, $25.5M |
| 3/14/2019 | WR | Donte Moncrief | Jaguars | 5 | 2 | 2-years, $9M |
