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Steelers Bring Back Key Depth Piece on Offensive Line
The Pittsburgh Steelers have signed center Ryan McCollum to a one-year contract, the team announced on Monday.
McCollum had been an exclusive rights free agent. Instead he’ll be back with the Steelers for another season. Terms of the contract were not released.
The 27-year-old McCollum has been with the Steelers since 2021, but saw his first regular season action with the team this past season. McCollum played in all 17 games as a reserve interior lineman and special teamer and made two starts in place of an injured Zach Frazier. He replaced Frazier late in the Week 6 win over the Las Vegas Raiders and then played all of the next two games against the New York Jets and New York Giants.
McCollum originally signed with the Houston Texans out of Texas A&M in 2021. He was released and signed by the Detroit Lions, where he played 13 games and made one start in 2022.
He re-signed with the Lions for 2022, but was released early in training camp, and the Steelers claimed him off waivers. McCollum spent the entire 2022 and 2023 seasons on the Steelers practice squad without being elevated for a game.
This year, he started out as the third center on the depth chart, but elevated his play after Nate Herbig was lost to a training camp injury, securing the backup job and playing well in Frazier’s absence.
“I’ve always known I could play, so it doesn’t really change anything, just continuing to prove it,” McCollum told Steelers Now in November. “Just keeping my head down, keep working, and coach Pat [Meyer]. Working with him over the past two years has made me a lot better.”
McCollum will now be expected to be the primary backup to Frazier in the 2025 season.
In addition to announcing the McCollum deal, the Steelers also made official the release of defesnive tackle Larry Ogunjobi and the tender offer for restricted free agent running back Jaylen Warren.