UNITY TWP., Pa. — The Pittsburgh Steelers have signed veteran outside linebacker Markus Golden to a one-year contract, the team announced on Thursday. Golden spent the 2023 season with the team, but had been a free agent since his contract had expired in March.
The Steelers suffered a pair of linebacker injuries during practice on Wednesday, with David Perales (knee) and Kyron Johnson (hamstring) both exiting the practice session. Neither were seen on the field before the start of the team’s seventh training camp practice on Thursday.
Golden, 33, played in 16 games for the Steelers last season as the club’s No. 3 outside linebacker. He recored 20 tackles, six tackles for loss, four sacks, one pass defense and one fumble recovery.
He will likely slot in alongside Nick Herbig as the Steelers’ second-team outside linebackers. Perales, Johnson and Jeremiah Moon had been competing to land that job alongside Herbig.
The 6-foot-3, 260-pound linebacker was the Cardinals’ second-round pick in there 2015 NFL Draft out of Missouri, taken two picks after the Steelers selected cornerback Senquez Golson.
Golden was an immediate contributor for the Cardinals, starting six games as a rookie and then breaking out with a 12.5-sack season in 2016. He missed time with injuries in 2017 and 2019, and left Arizona, signing as a free agent with the New York Giants.
Golden posted a 10-sack season with Big Blue in 2019 and re-signed in New York for 2020. In Oct. 2020, he was traded back to the Cardinals for a sixth-round draft pick. In his first full season back in the desert in 2021, Golden again posted double-digit sack totals with 11. He also had four forced fumbles, two fumble recoveries and a pass defensed.
To make room for Golden on the 90-man roster, the Steelers waived Perales with an injury designation.