According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, the Pittsburgh Steelers are bringing bring back defensive lineman Larry Ogunjobi. After starting 16 games for the Steelers in 2022, the Charlotte product returns to Pittsburgh on a three-year contract worth $28.75 million that will pay him $21.75 million in the first two years of the deal.
Ogunjobi is the second of their own free agents the Steelers have re-signed today, as the team also brought back safety Damontae Kazee on a two-year contract. They also signed guard Nate Herbig to a two-year deal earlier today. Ogunjobi will return to a defensive line that features Cameron Heyward and will look to produce similarly to how he did in 2022. He was a force against the run with 48 solo tackles, 7.5 tackles for a loss and was the man in the middle clogging things up.
Although Ogunjobi’s production as a pass rusher took a dip with just 1.5 sacks, he’s shown that he can be a capable pass rusher (23 career sacks), and hopefully he continues to do so in the future. At first glance, that money for Ogunjobi looks pretty steep. The structure of the deal obviously matters, but the initial total seems like a lot for what Pittsburgh got out of Ogunjobi last season. If he his pass-rushing to get back to pre-2022 form, the salary makes more sense.
Last offseason, Ogunjobi initially agreed to a three-year deal with the Chicago Bears worth upwards of $40 million. However, a foot injury caused him to fail his physical, and he landed in Pittsburgh on a one-year deal. Clearly, the Steelers liked what they saw out of Ogunjobi and were comfortable enough with his health to commit to him for another three seasons. While he only missed one game due to injury, he was continually on the injury report and didn’t practice much during the season. If Ogunjobi stay healthy, he could be better than he was last season.
For his career, Ogunjobi has 277 tackles and 23 sacks along with 48 tackles for a loss and two forced fumbles while spending time with the Cleveland Browns, Cincinnati Bengals, and the Steelers.
With Ogunjobi and Kazee back in the fold, and adding cornerback Patrick Peterson, the Steelers defense, as constructed, looks very similar to the one in 2022, with Peterson replacing Cameron Sutton, who agreed to terms with the Detroit Lions yesterday. Look for more moves in free agency or the draft to shore up the defensive side of the football.
