Chargers Sign Former Steelers Linebacker

The Los Angeles Chargers have signed former Steelers LB Tae Crowder after a successful workout, the team announced on Tuesday.

The Steelers signed Crowder off the New York Giants practice squad at the end of the last season with a bevy of injuries hurting the inside linebacker position. He remained under contract with the team through the offseason for the 2023 season, but the team cut bait on Crowder before the start of OTAs in May.

He did not appear in a game down the stretch run for the club but remained under contract for 2023. Crowder was a seventh-round pick of the Giants (and the last pick of the draft overall) in the 2020 NFL Draft and played in 41 games and started 31 games with New York from 2020-22.

The 6-foot-1, 235-pound Crowder started seven games as a rookie in 2020 and all 17 in 2021 but lost his job in the middle of this season when the team moved Jaylon Smith to inside linebacker. The Giants waived Crowder on Dec. 20, cleared, and was re-signed to their practice squad.

Crowder has recorded 232 tackles, nine tackles for loss, eight passes defended, six quarterback hits, two sacks, two forced fumbles, one fumble recovery and one defensive touchdown. A native of Pine Mountain, Georgia, Crowder played his college football for the Georgia Bulldogs. He played 44 games at Georgia and made 122 tackles, ten tackles for loss, 1.5 sacks, two interceptions and seven passes defended.