The Steelers are signing linebacker Kwon Alexander pending a physical, according to Brooke Pryor of ESPN.
Kwon Alexander, 28, is an eight-year veteran that has played with four teams, most recently the New York Jets in 2022.
The 6-foot-1, 227-pounder was selected in the fourth round of the 2015 NFL Draft by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers out of LSU and started as a 21-year-old rookie for the Bucs. Alexander led the NFL with 108 solo tackles in 2016 and made his first and only Pro Bowl in 2017.
Injuries slowed him down after that, with a torn ACL costing him most of the 2018 season. After signing a four-year, $54 million free agent contract with the San Francisco 49ers in 2019, a torn pectoral muscle ended that season early.
Alexander was traded to the New Orleans Saints, and played 19 games over a season and half there before moving on to New York.
Last season with the Jets, he played in all 17 games, making 12 starts, and recorded 69 tackles, six tackles for loss, a half sack, two quarterback hits, one forced fumble and one pass defended.
Alexander ran a 4.55-second 40-yard dash in his pre-draft NFL Combine and Mike Tomlin was at his LSU pro day, so the Steelers have had a long-term interest in the athletic linebacker.
Alexander got his start as a solid coverage and pass-rush option for the Bucs, but has not been able to continue that into his later career. He had just five pass-rush snaps in all of the 2022 season, according to Pro Football Focus, and his passer rating against was 96.2, with 36 catches on 47 targets for 342 yards.
He joins a room that has been completely overhauled with Cole Holcomb, Elandon Roberts, Tanner Muse, and Nick Kwiatkoski all being new faces to the team. In addition, it has a new inside linebackers coach Aaron Curry. But Alexander can be the spark plug the team needed at that spot in coverage.