What’s Left for Steelers in Defensive Tackle Market?
The Pittsburgh Steelers have been active in the free agency period, trading for wide receiver DK Metcalf, signing two cornerbacks, a running back and a linebacker, and are still in negotiations with quarterback Aaron Rodgers.
But things have been very quiet on the defensive line. The Steelers released starter Larry Ogunjobi, saving themselves his $7 million salary for 2024. Since then, the Buffalo Bills have snapped up Ogunjobi, signing him to a one-year deal worth $8.3 million.
The market has been surprisingly hot for defensive tackles, considering how strong the 2025 NFL Draft class is at that position.
The Steelers could have been waiting to settle their quarterback position first, or they could have just not liked the price tag on the free agents at the spot signed so far.
But there’s not much left to pick through if they eventually turn their attention to that market.
WHO’S LEFT IN FREE AGENCY FOR THE STEELERS AT DEFENSIVE TACKLE?
Calais Campbell
I’m sure Steelers fans would react rationally to the team signing a defensive tackle that will be 39 years old after complaining mightily about signing 34-year-old cornerback Darius Slay earlier this week and trying to run Cam Heyward out of town for being over the hill last year.
Campbell was outstanding for the Dolphins in 2024, despite his age. He was tied for 10th among all defensive tackles with 39 total tackles, per PFF. His 39 pressures were tied for 24th. And he’s still playing a full load. He played in 616 snaps for Miami last season.
Campbell is not a great tackler — he’s been over 20% in missed tackle rate three times in the last five years — but he doesn’t get moved from the point of attack, and he has surprising strength in pass rushing for someone without a ton of explosiveness left.
He also had five passes defended last year — something the Steelers love — and in addition to all of that, he has nine career blocked field goals. Really, the only downside here is his age. Campbell is far and away the best player left on the market, and was always one of the best players available based on his 2024 tape.
William Gholston
Gholston is both five years younger than Campbell and one of the older players in his group. A 12-year vet, he’s spent all of it with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, but has hit free agency without a new deal.
Gholston has been extremely durable, having played 16 or more games in each of the last seven seasons, but Tampa has reduced his role as he’s aged. He started just three games in 2024, and his snap count dropped all the way down to 202.
Gholston would not be a direct replacement for Ogunjobi at this point, but if the Steelers want to draft a first-round pick to be their starter, but also have a vet there as a rotational player and as insurance in case the young buck doesn’t work out, Gholston could be a great fit.
John Cominsky
Cominsky is 29 years old and missed all of last season with an MCL tear, but he as solid the two seasons before the for the Detroit Lions. He played in 14 games and made eight starts in 2022, recording 30 tackles, five tackles for loss, four sacks and 12 quarterback hits. In 2022, he played in 16 games and made 11 starts, with 36 tackles, two tackles for loss, two sacks and eight quarterback hits.
Cominsky has played extensively in odd-front defenses as a five-technique, something not everyone on this list has done. He’s a potential starter, if he’s fully recovered from last year’s injury.
Jeremiah Ledbetter
Ledbetter is 30 years old and has certainly bounced around the NFL, but seemed to find his game over the last two seasons with the Jacksonville Jaguars. A sixth-round pick of the Detroit Lions in 2017, he spent one season there, one with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, three weeks with the Baltimore Ravens, another season and a half with the Bucs, two months with the Arizona Cardinals, and then the last three and a half seasons with the Jags.
In 2023, he played in all 17 games, after having played in five games from 2018-22, and recorded 24 tackles, one for a loss, one quarterback hit and a pass defended. Last year, he played in 15 games and made three starts, racking up 38 tackles, eight tackles for loss, four quarterback hits and two sacks.
That’s a strange career path. It makes it tough to project his future productivity. But he was a good player last year.
Mike Pennel
Pennel is your classic mercenary interior defensive lineman. The 33-year-old has played on five NFL teams in his 11-year career, but is most known for his four seasons with the Kansas City Chiefs, where he won two Super Bowl rings.
This past season was one of his best. Pennel played in all 17 games and tied a career high with seven starts. He played 32o snaps of defense, so not a full-time role, but certainly a big piece of the puzzle, and came away with a career high three sacks in addition to 25 tackles, three tackles for loss and two quarterback hits.
Naquan Jones
A pure rotational backup, Jones has decent pass rush upside. He’s one of the younger players on this list at 26 years old, and had three sacks last year while playing only 260 snaps for the Arizona Cardinals.
He has a big frame at 6-foot-3 and 313 pounds, has improved his run defense and has a 6.2% career missed tackle rate. This is a backup with some upside.
The retreads: Khalil Davis, Isaiahh Loudermilk, Armon Watts
Isaiahh Loudermilk has played in 58 games for the Steelers over the last four years and has very little productivity to show for it. He doesn’t have much in the way of pass rush upside, with one career sack and one career quarterback hit, but he is generally fairly stout against the run.
Armon Watts had a very good season for the Steelers in 2023, but fell apart in 2024. He was injured with the New England Patriots in training camp, got released with an injury settlement in October, caught on with the New York Giants, and played in five games before getting injured again.
Khalil Davis spent the most of the 2021 season with the Steelers, along with his twin brother Carlos. Since then, he’s established himself as a bottom-of-the-roster NFL regular, without much in the way of production. He played 12 games between the Houston Texans and San Francisco 49ers last season.
Best of the rest: Byron Cowart, Taven Bryan, Austin Johnson, Jonathan Bullard, Sheldon Day, Linval Joseph, John Jenkins, Morgan Fox, Benito Jones, Quinton Jefferson, Jerry Tillery, Neville Gallimore