The Pittsburgh Steelers might not be done adding to their roster ahead of the 2023 season.
According to ESPN NFL Insider Adam Schefter, the Steelers are hosting veteran free agent linebacker Kwon Alexander for a visit Monday night.
Inside linebacker is a rather big area of need, at least from a depth perspective, for the Steelers as there’s very little proven depth behind free agent signees Elandon Roberts and Cole Holcomb.
Alexander, 28, spent the 2022 season with the New York Jets, playing in all 17 games, starting 12, and finishing with 69 tackles. Last year, Alexander signed a one-year, $1,272,500 contract with the Jets and that was a veteran benefit deal.
Prior to his stop in New York, Alexander spent four seasons with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, a season and a half with the San Francisco 49ers and a season and a half with the New Orleans Saints. The LSU product entered the NFL as a fourth-round pick in the 2015 NFL Draft at No. 124 overall by the Buccaneers.
In 95 career games (86 starts), Alexander has recorded 590 tackles, 49 tackles for loss, 29 quarterback hits, 12.5 sacks, eight interceptions, 33 pass breakups and 11 forced fumbles.
Last season, Alexander graded out at a 63.0 overall, per Pro Football Focus, his highest grade since recorded a 65.5 in 2017 with Tampa Bay. According to PFF, Alexander had a missed tackle percentage of 13.4% last season and allowed 36 receptions for 342 yards in coverage on 47 targets. Alexander played just 558 total snaps last season for the Jets and has 5,035 snaps under his belt in his career.
We’ll see if the Steelers ultimately sign Alexander. If GM Omar Khan deems him worthy enough of a contract, Alexander would shore up some of the concerns, from a depth perspective, at inside linebacker behind Holcomb entering training camp. Alexander has had injury issues in the past, including a torn ACL in 2018 and a torn Achilles in 2020.
