On Tuesday afternoon, it was announced that the Pittsburgh Steelers were signing DL Larry Ogunjobi to a one-year contract, per ESPN’s Adam Schefter. The deal came together shortly after reports surfaced that Ogunjobi was in town visiting with the Steelers are previous doing the same with the New York Jets, leaving without a deal. Having inked a contract with Pittsburgh for 2022, Ogunjobi figures to add much-needed depth to a defensive line that recently loss Stephon Tuitt to retirement a couple weeks ago.
To date the Pittsburgh Steelers have gone on a spending spree of sorts this offseason compared to years past, adding multiple projected starters on both sides of the football given the cap space they had to play with. When looking at the outside names the Steelers have brought in on defense specifically, they have addressed every level of the defense by signing Ogunjobi, Tuzar Skipper, Genard Avery, Myles Jack, Levi Wallace, and Damontae Kazee.
Now with the 90th roster spot filled after the Ogunjobi signing, the question remains whether the Steelers will sit pact with the guys they have on the roster now until they go into training camp, or if they may look to make yet another outside addition to the roster. When it comes to immediate needs on the roster, Pittsburgh has done a great job utilizing both free agency and the 2022 NFL Draft to address nearly every hole they had coming off the 2021 season. Still, while names like Avery and Skipper have been added to the OLB room, there remains a sentiment of whether Pittsburgh will choose to add a higher-caliber player to back up T.J. Watt or Alex Highsmith at EDGE this season.
Dave Bryan of Steelers Depot has often referenced the long history of Pittsburgh adding a couple names every year between mandatory minicamp and the start of the regular season that end up making the Week 1 roster. For example, the Steelers signed EDGE Melvin Ingram back on July 20 last year right as training camp began in hopes of shoring up the OLB room. Therefore, it could be expected that Pittsburgh will look to make another addition before they kick off Week 1 on the road against the Bengals. The question remains, however when this possible addition will occur, and at what position?
Backup EDGE seems to be one of the most likely options as well as backup RB to provide a more capable runner behind Najee Harris to allow the bell cow back to ease the immense workload he carried last season. Offensive line always remains a possibility as well, especially at OT with the room lacking notable depth behind starters Dan Moore Jr. and Chukwuma Okorafor in case of injury. CB, TE, and even ILB are other positions that couldn’t be ruled out as well, depending on the names available and how Pittsburgh could potentially see them contributing on their roster.
I now leave the discussion to yinz: do you think that the Steelers are done adding outside names to the roster after the Ogunjobi signing? If you think that they will add another player or two, do you think the signing will occur yet this offseason or when the team begins training camp? What positions are the Steelers most likely to address in your mind, and specifically what names could they be interested in signing at those positions?
