The most experienced inside linebacker on the Pittsburgh Steelers’ roster was not signed until training camp was already underway. He’d remained unsigned for the entirety of the offseason, even though he had been in contact with teams, including Pittsburgh, prior to that point.
That would be Kwon Alexander, a former Pro Bowler who started 12 of 17 games for the New York Jets just last season. In spite of the fact that the only linebacker returning from their roster a year ago is a 2022 seventh-round pick in Mark Robinson, Gerry Dulac makes it clear why he was brought in.
“The main reason for bringing him in was that they wanted to strengthen the depth at that position”, he said on Steelers Training Camp All-Access, from the team’s YouTube channel. “They did not bring him in to challenge the two guys that they had already brought in, Cole Holcomb and Elandon Roberts”.
The Steelers signed Holcomb, after four years with the Washington Commanders, to a three-year, $18 million contract. Roberts, a more experienced veteran who is a two-down linebacker, was signed to a two-year contract worth $7 million.
Neither player is really breaking the bank, but Alexander only got a one-year veteran salary benefit contract that, with the maximum allowed signing bonus, pays him about $1.3 million this year. Because of the veteran salary benefit, he only counts $940,000 against the salary cap.
The 29-year-old has more than 5,000 defensive snaps under his belt, though he has not played 700 or more snaps in a season since 2017. That is largely due to a very unfortunate injury history. Last season with the Jets was the first in which he played in more than 12 games since that 2017 season, the year he made his lone Pro Bowl.
As for Holcomb, he’s been an every-down player for the past two seasons, though he missed 10 games in 2022 due to a foot injury. He had been averaging more than nine tackles per game since the start of the 2021 season.
Roberts, who had spent the past three years with the Miami Dolphins, has 76 starts to his name in 107 games played, spanning 3,164 defensive snaps. Though he hasn’t missed a game in over two years, he has not hit the 700-snap mark. In fact, his 680 snaps in 2022 represented a career high.
While Dulac stressed that the Steelers did not bring in Alexander to compete for a starting job, he did commend them for bringing him in to improve their depth at the position. “He’s a hard-hitting guy. He was sitting out there because he’s had some injury issues”, he said.
It’s worth noting that Josina Anderson reported when the Steelers first signed Alexander that they were going into the arrangement with no preconceived notions and that “if he proves worthy, he will be trotted out there with the first group”. You can take that—and Dulac’s account—for whatever they might be worth to you, but we can certainly guarantee head coach Mike Tomlin won’t say anything like either report.
