For years, some Steelers fans wanted the team to experiment with moving linebacker Ryan Shazier to safety.
Now, the Steelers have a linebacker who has made the move the other way. Mark Barron, who officially signed his two-year, $12-million free agent deal with the team Tuesday, made the move from safety to linebacker while with the Rams.
And it wasn't a move that was talked about -- or mentioned -- until it happened.
Four games into the 2015 season, starting linebacker Alec Ogletree suffered a season-ending ankle injury. Barron, who at that point was used only as a sub-package player after joining the Rams the previous year in a mid-season trade with Tampa Bay, was still a safety at that point.
But with Olgetree out, Barron was in.
"When Alex Ogletree got hurt, he was the Will linebacker," Barron said Tuesday. "They just told me to go out there and play football. I’ve been a linebacker ever since. It wasn’t a thing that was talked about, discussed or anything like that. They threw me out there and told me to go."
All Barron did that season was lead the Rams in tackles with 113, including having four games in which he reached double digits.
The 6-foot-2, 230-pound Barron had a career-high 117 tackles in 2016, then had 85 and three interceptions in 14 games in 2017. Last season, he missed four games because of injury, but still recorded 60 tackles. He then added 22 tackles and one pass defended in three playoff games.
Barron, 29, was released by the Rams last week in a salary-cap move. The Steelers agreed to terms with him on his two-year deal Sunday, bringing him in, ironically enough, as a replacement for Shazier.
The Steelers signed veteran Jon Bostic to fill that spot last season, but found his coverage skills wanting. Considering Barron's background as a safety, coverage should not be an issue for him.
It won't even look out of place, though you don't often see linebackers wearing No. 26.
"I’m playing linebacker. As far as what they’re going to ask of me, I’m not sure," Barron said. "I’m a versatile guy. I feel like I can do whatever is needed to help this team win.
"I don’t think I’ll be coming off the field."
That could be a much-needed piece to the puzzle for the Steelers, who went 9-6-1 last season, missing the playoffs for the first time since 2013.
One other thing they will be getting in Barron is a player accustomed to winning. He won national championships at Alabama in 2009 and 2011 and went to the Super Bowl last season with the Rams.
"It was a great experience. I’m definitely not the type of guy to just be happy to be in a Super Bowl," Barron said. "I want to win the Super Bowl, if I’m going to it. But it was a nice experience. I’ve been to a few college championships and I won a few. It was kind of similar to that, just on a bigger scale. But that whole experience kind of has a negative imprint on me because we didn’t win."
He hopes to change that with the Steelers and feels Mike Tomlin is the kind of coach who can make that happen.
Barron said playing for Tomlin attracted him to Pittsburgh as a free agent.
Why?
"Just the way he goes about things. How straight-up he is and how he goes about his work," Barron said. "The way he handles his players and communicates with his players, I feel like I’m the type of person who’s straight-up about things. I like everything to be on the table. I operate in that fashion. To work for somebody and to play for somebody, and work for somebody who does things in the same fashion as me, I feel like that will be a good fit for me."
LOLLEY'S VIEW
Barron is saying the right things. He wants to be part of the solution.
But I don't think his signing will preclude the Steelers from taking another inside linebacker in the draft, if the option arises early on.
Barron's signing just means the Steelers won't be forced to trade away the farm to move up to get Devin White or Devin Bush. They can stay at pick 20 and take the best player available.
And if one of those players, or an outside linebacker such as Brian Burns, falls into range, they can move up a little to get him.
