Reports say that the Steelers have made a deal with former Jets Pro Bowl LB Kwon Alexander.

Pittsburgh’s defense gets a new veteran.

USATSI

The Steelers are adding a player who has been to the Pro Bowl before to their team. Pittsburgh and linebacker Kwon Alexander have agreed to a one-year deal. In May, Alexander met with the Steelers.

In the 2015 NFL Draft, the fourth-round pick was 28-year-old Alexander. He played for Tampa Bay for his first four seasons. In 2017, he was named to the Pro Bowl because he led the league with 108 solo tackles. Alexander’s only full season in San Francisco was in 2019 when he helped the 49ers get to the Super Bowl. He was traded to the Saints in the middle of the 2021 season, and then he played for the Jets for the whole 2022 season. Alexander made 69 tackles in 12 starts for New York. He played in all 17 games for New York.

Alexander has proven a good player, but injuries have kept him from doing even better. During the 2018-19 season, he only played in 14 games because he hurt his knee and chest. After 12 games in 2021, his season was cut short by a torn Achilles.

In 2023, the Steelers will have a new group of inside linebackers. Robert Spillane, Devin Bush, and Myles Jack left the team during the off-season. They got free agents Cole Holcomb, Elandon Roberts, and Tanner Muse to take their places. Holcomb and Roberts are set to start at inside linebacker for the team, with Muse and Mark Robinson as backups.

If he did, Alexander would be the second 2022 Jets player to sign with the Steelers this offseason. Nate Herbig, a former guard for New York, signed with Pittsburgh when he was a free agent. The Steelers then picked up his brother Nick Herbig in the fourth round of the April draft. Nick was an outside linebacker at Wisconsin.