The Pittsburgh Steelers aren’t done adding to their offseason roster yet. According to agent David Canter, the team is signing defensive lineman Armon Watts. Canter tweeted the news moments ago.-
Watts, 26, has appeared in 57 career games, making 22 starts. For his career, he has 125 tackles with eight sacks. A sixth-round pick of the Minnesota Vikings in 2019, he spent last season with the Chicago Bears, starting 12 games while appearing in all 17. He finished the season with 35 tackles and a sack.
Coming out of Arkansas, Watts weighed in at 6045, 300 pounds with 33 3/8 inch arms. That could give him the flexibility to play defensive end or closer to over the ball.
He’s the second veteran defensive lineman added this year, joining Breiden Fehoko. Pittsburgh is looking to add veteran depth along the d-line to help replace Chris Wormley and give the team more options ahead of this month’s draft. Pittsburgh re-signed Larry Ogunjobi while Cam Heyward hasn’t shown many signs of slowing down. Watts will compete with the likes of Isaiahh Loudermilk and Jonathan Marshall this summer for a roster spot. The Steelers certainly could look to add in the draft too, showing interest in many of the top defensive linemen in this year’s class.
Watts is one of several lower-level signings the team has made in recent weeks, also adding Fehoko and SS Keanu Neal.
You can check out our pre-draft report on Watts back in 2019 below. We noted his strong anchor and active hand use while knocking his lack of experience and how often he was on the ground. Overall, we concluded:
“I can see Watts become a solid rotational piece for a defensive line, though probably never a starter, with a sorta similar career arc as Tyson Alualu or a floor of someone like Al Woods.“
We also mentioned him in our 2019 “what they look for” study given his frame.
