The Pittsburgh Steelers have officially signed veteran defensive lineman Dean Lowry, the team announced today. It is a two-year contract.
The team shared a photo of Lowry putting pen to paper.
Lowry’s signing was announced on March 25 by GM Omar Khan at the NFL’s owners meetings, making this a little less of an urgent news update. But it’s notable to pass along because of the two-year contract aspect. Meaning, it won’t be a one-year veteran benefit contract that would’ve been reasonable to expect given his age and lack of production, recording just 14 tackles and zero sacks in 2023 before suffering a season-ending pectoral injury in November.
Full contract details of Lowry’s deal have not been released and though the two-year pact is a mild surprise, his contract numbers should still be low. Functionally, it’ll work like a one-year deal should the Steelers decide to move on after the ’24 season.
A fourth-round pick of the Green Bay Packers in 2016, Lowry spent seven years in Green Bay. Ahead of the 2023 season, he signed a two-year deal with Minnesota but was released earlier in the offseason. Turning 30 in June, he’ll serve as rotational defensive line depth for the Steelers playing behind Cam Heyward and Larry Ogunjobi.
In our film room breakdown, we noted that Lowry was a strong scheme fit with experience playing as a 4i/5tech. Despite a lack of length, he shows upper-body strength and technique to two-gap against the run. A limited pass rusher without many moves, Lowry is ticketed for 3-4 packages and seeing roughly 10-15 snaps per game. Read our complete film room breakdown on Lowry below.
In addition to Lowry, the team announced official deals for three previously reported: QB Kyle Allen, WR Quez Watkins, and RB/KR Cordarrelle Patterson. The contract lengths on all three were as expected. One year for Allen and Watkins and two years for Patterson, a deal reportedly worth $6 million.
