Steelers sign former Pro Bowl safety and first-round pick Keanu Neal to a two-year deal

The Steelers entered Thursday with 4 former first-round choices on their protection, and it seems like that quantity is ready to building up. That quantity has now higher to 5 after the Steelers signed former Pro Bowl safety Keanu Neal to a two-year deal, his agent confirmed overdue Thursday afternoon. 

The seventeenth total pick within the 2016 NFL Draft, Neal pressured 5 fumbles as a rookie whilst serving to the Falcons achieve the Super Bowl that season. He was once named to his first Pro Bowl the next season after forcing 3 fumbles and making 116 tackles. Neal spent the primary 5 seasons of his occupation in Atlanta earlier than spending twelve months apiece in Dallas and Tampa. A component-time starter with the Buccaneers, Neal had one interception and 63 tackles throughout his handiest season with Tampa Bay. 

Neal joins a Steelers secondary that can glance considerably other in 2023 than it did in 2022. Pittsburgh parted with Cam Sutton this offseason and changed him with eight-time Pro Bowl cornerback Patrick Peterson. Peterson, alternatively, is also moved from cornerback to loose safety whilst permitting Minkah Fitzpatrick to transfer to robust safety, the location that was once previously manned by way of former first-round pick Terrell Edmunds. Edmunds signed with the Eagles this month after turning down Pittsburgh’s be offering. 

It’s been a busy month for the Steelers, who for a 2nd immediately offseason have used loose company to bolster an ever-improving offensive line. One of this 12 months’s loose agent signings, former Eagle Isaac Seumalo, is anticipated to compete for Pittsburgh’s beginning left guard place towards Kevin Dotson. 

The Steelers additionally aggressively addressed within linebacker by way of signing veterans Cole Holcomb and Elandon Roberts. Pittsburgh made a splash by way of signing Peterson, because the Steelers’ protection now has 4 former first-round choices in its beginning lineup. Among the crew’s higher in-house loose company signings was once defensive finish Larry Ogunjobi, who performed smartly beneath a one-year deal closing season. 

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Nose take on and receiver are nonetheless spaces the Steelers want to cope with this offseason. Bud Dupree, who visited the Steelers on Thursday, will fill Pittsburgh’s present void at backup cross rusher if the former first-round pick re-signs with the Steelers.