Report: Steelers Sign Former Bears OLB Kuony Deng (Update)

UPDATE, 1:45 p.m.: NFL Insider Aaron Wilson is confirming the report that the Steelers have signed former Atlanta and Chicago outside linebacker Kuony Deng. No corresponding move for the Steelers has been announced yet.

The Pittsburgh Steelers continue to tinker with the bottom of the 90-man roster, looking for some unheralded players that could earn either a roster or a practice squad spot.

After signing wide receiver Aron Cruickshank Monday morning, the Steelers also added former Atlanta Falcons and Chicago Bears outside linebacker Kuony Deng. Deng has a locker inside the Steelers’ South Side facility, according to the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review’s Joe Rutter. 

Deng signed with the Bears late in the 2022 season after spending much of the year on Atlanta’s practice squad. He was released by the Bears last Thursday before being picked up by the Steelers.

An undrafted free agent in 2022 out of the University of California, where he spent three seasons from 2019-22. Deng played in just two games in his senior season before suffering a season-ending injury. Deng had originally arrived at Cal from Independence Junior College,  where he put up strong numbers in 2019 as an off-ball linebacker, recording 121 tackles, 7.5 tackles for loss and 3.0 sacks for the Bears. After that season though, the 6-foot-5, 240-pound Deng moved from inside linebacker for the Cal Bears to outside linebacker, where he got a chance in the NFL with the Falcons and Chicago Bears.

In 19 career games at Cal in college, Deng recorded 156 total tackles, 10 tackles for loss, 3.5 sacks, two forced fumbles, one fumble recovery and eight pass breakups.

Coming out of college, Deng did not test all that well, recording a 4.95 Relative Athletic Score. The height, weight and length were all strong, but the testing numbers were poor, according to Kent Lee Platte’s flip card.

During the 2022 preseason, Deng played 41 snaps for the Falcons, recording just one tackle and one pressure, grading out at a 34.5 overall from Pro Football Focus. Deng played just five snaps in the preseason with the Bears this summer, grading out at a 38.8 overall against the Tennessee Titans.

No corresponding move has been announced by the Steelers.