As the season moves deeper into December and depth becomes even more important, the Pittsburgh Steelers are continuing to at least update the Rolodex when it comes to free agents.
According to a report from NFL Insider Aaron Wilson, the Steelers hosted former Cleveland Browns defensive tackle Siaki Ika for a visit Wednesday. Ika was a pre-draft visitor of the Steelers ahead of the 2023 NFL Draft.
A former third-round pick in the 2023 NFL Draft by the Browns, Ika appeared in just four games as a rookie. Ahead of the 2024 season, Ika was waived during final roster cuts coming out of training camp and was then signed to the Browns practice squad.
On October 14, Ika was cut from the practice squad and landed with the Philadelphia Eagles practice squad on Oct. 23 before being released a week later. He was re-signed to the Eagles’ practice squad on Nov. 20 before being released a week later.
Siaki Ika measured in at 6040, 358 pounds coming out of college at Baylor, where he spent two seasons after transferring from LSU after the 2020 season. At Baylor, Ika was the 2021 Big 12 Newcomer of the Year and first-team All-Big 12 in 2022.
In his Baylor career, Ika recorded 70 tackles (10.5 for a loss) with 4.5 sacks and three pass deflections.
In our scouting report, Jonathan Heitritter concluded the following about Ika, highlighting that he showed more athleticism on tape than in his testing.
“His massive size and frame make him a chore to move off his spot for most double teams and nearly impossible to displace for any singular OL tasked with the job. He can sit in gaps or penetrate himself, having several moves like the swim, long arm, and club/rip to get off blocks and cause disruption in the backfield. While a good athlete relative to his size, Ika could stand to drop 10-15lb to become more agile in the open field and as a run-and-chase defender, which would also aid in his conditioning to stay on the field more than just the first two downs.”
Heitritter gave him a second-round grade. Ika ultimately went in the third round.
The Steelers currently have Montravius Adams on IR, though his 21-day window to return from his knee injury was opened last week. Pittsburgh has just five true defensive linemen on the roster: Cameron Heyward, Larry Ogunjobi, Keeanu Benton, Dean Lowry, and Isaiahh Loudermilk, and has three defensive linemen on the practice squad in Domenique Davis, Jacob Slade, and Breiden Fehoko.
