The Steelers went into this year's free agency period with nearly $30 million in available salary cap space. They seem intent on spending it all.
Anyone feeling the team was ready to "rebuild" or "tank" to better their position for 2023 to acquire a quarterback might be sorely disappointed.
After adding four veteran free agents earlier in the week during the NFL's legal tampering period, the Steelers dipped into the free agent pool once again Wednesday as the new league year began at 4 p.m., adding former Jaguars linebacker Myles Jack on a two-year, $16 million deal.
Jack, 26, had been released by the Jaguars earlier this week in a cost-cutting move that saved Jacksonville $8 million.
His addition means that Joe Schobert has played his last football for the Steelers. The Steelers traded a sixth-round pick in this year's draft to the Jaguars for Schobert at the end of training camp last year. Releasing Schobert would clear up $7.85 million in cap space.
Former Jaguars’ LB Myles Jack is expected to sign a two-year, $16 million deal with the Pittsburgh Steelers, per source.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) March 16, 2022
The Steelers will instead give that money to Jack, whom the Jaguars kept a year ago instead of Schobert.
A former running back at UCLA, Jack (6-1, 244 pounds) transitioned to linebacker in college and was a second-round draft pick of the Jaguars in 2016.
In 88 career games -- 82 of them starts -- he has 513 tackles, three interceptions and 6.5 sacks.
He's coming off of back-to-back 100-plus tackle seasons with Jacksonville, which had signed him to a 4-year, $57-million contract in 2019.
Now, Jack will be paired with Devin Bush, the Steelers' first-round draft pick in 2019, to give the team a young, athletic inside linebacker duo -- at least for this year. The Steelers have until early May to decide whether to pick up a fifth-year option for 2023 on Bush at nearly $11 million.
Jack is the fifth outside free agent signed by the Steelers since the league's legal tampering period opened Monday, joining quarterback Mitch Trubisky, offensive linemen James Daniels and Mason Cole and cornerback Levi Wallace. It's the most active the team has been in the opening week of free agency in team history.
As a player who was released by his former team, Jack will not factor into the Steelers' compensatory draft pick formula in 2023, though given the number of outside free agents they have already signed, it seems unlikely the team will receive any compensatory picks next year.
Earlier in the day the Steelers released offensive tackle Zach Banner to clear $5 million in salary cap space. The team's opening starter at right tackle in 2020, Banner suffered a torn ACL in the first game of the regular season and had played sparingly since.