Veteran linebacker Shaquille Leonard is officially a free agent. Waived by the Indianapolis Colts Tuesday, he went unclaimed through the waiver process over the last 24 hours, meaning he is able to sign with any team at any time. That’s according to Dianna Russini, who tweeted the news a short time ago.
UPDATE (4:32 PM) Per ESPN’s Adam Schefter, the Philadelphia Eagles and Dallas Cowboys are expected to have interest.
Leonard was surprisingly waived by the Colts yesterday. One of the best off-ball linebackers in football and in his prime, he started 68 games for the team. A three-time All-Pro, he’s racked up 614 career tackles (32 for a loss) with 15 sacks and 12 interceptions.
He passed through waivers in large part due to the hefty salary any claiming team would’ve had to take on. Leonard is owed $6 million over the rest of the season. Injuries have hampered him and limited some of the range he possessed earlier in his career. He was also unhappy about his role with the Colts, no longer an every-down player for the team.
Pittsburgh has an obvious need at inside linebacker, already adding several linebackers since losing Cole Holcomb and Kwon Alexander in Weeks 9 and 10. The team has signed Mykal Walker and Blake Martinez and brought back Myles Jack over the last handful of weeks. All in an effort to find someone to pair next to Elandon Roberts, the last of the team’s “Big Three” at inside linebacker to begin the season. In Sunday’s loss to the Cleveland Browns, Roberts finished with 15 tackles.
Still, the team could look to add a big name like Leonard, who can still offer quality snaps for the Steelers. It’s unclear what type of contract Leonard would want to finish the season — it would likely be a one-year deal for an unknown amount — but it wouldn’t be surprising for the Steelers to show interest. Of course, Pittsburgh wouldn’t be the only team to have interest and Leonard now has a say in where he plays next.
