First Call: Steelers signee at OLB provides spark at practice; clarity on injury for Ravens rookie; Justin Tucker's new contract

A new Steeler provides a highlight at training camp. An IUP player is on the Steelers’ radar. The Baltimore Ravens are already dealing with an injury concern. And Justin Tucker is by himself as the NFL’s highest paid kicker again.

All that in Tuesday’s “First Call.”

The new ‘Bus’?

Credit Ron’Dell Carter for opening some eyes immediately at Steelers training camp. The pass rusher jumped right into practice yesterday, just hours after he was officially signed by the Steelers.

Steelers worked out Dondrea Tillman and Ron'Dell Carter (signed)

— Aaron Wilson (@AaronWilson_NFL) August 8, 2022

He was impressive, immediately winning a few pass rush drills cleanly right in front of head coach Mike Tomlin. That prompted loud applause from several defensive players and coaches. Some were heard yelling, “Right off the bus!” Others were heard shouting, “Right out of 103 Benedict Hall.”

That’s the name of the dorm where the Steelers have their camp headquarters at Saint Vincent College. And now, I’m assuming, room 103 is registration for new players.

And probably exit interviews for outgoing players, too.

The James Madison product was waived by the Arizona Cardinals on May 16. He’s thick for an edge rusher, at 6-foot-3, 269 pounds.

Carter played in four career NFL games, three with the Cowboys in 2020 and one with the Texans last season. He has recorded one career tackle.

Carter has a long way to go to make the team. But he was a fun sidebar story for at least one day.

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Eye on IUP

Carter wasn’t the only player up for consideration at the edge position. As the tweet above indicates, the Steelers were also looking at Dondrea Tillman.

He’s an Indiana University of Pennsylvania product. While at IUP, Tillman was an All-PSAC West selection twice, registering 28 sacks and 172 tackles.

Tillman just finished winning a USFL title with the Birmingham Stallions. He had 36 tackles and 2.5 sacks throughout the year. He also spent time in The Spring League with the “Conquerors.”

Tillman has now worked out with the Steelers twice. He tried out in July, too, before the franchise inked defensive lineman Doug Costin.

False Lisfranc

Baltimore Ravens center Tyler Linderbaum doesn’t have a Lisfranc injury. Or at least that’s what coach John Harbaugh said Monday.

An NFL.com story from earlier in the day stated that the University of Iowa product had suffered such an injury to his foot.

But head coach John Harbaugh claims the rookie sprained a different ligament, even though he has had a Lisfranc injury before.

Coach Harbaugh on Tyler Linderbaum: pic.twitter.com/warUXqXncI

— Baltimore Ravens (@Ravens) August 8, 2022

The hope is he’ll only miss the preseason and that he could be ready for Game 1 of the regular season . Linderbuam was a popular pre-draft target of many Steelers fans.

That didn’t take long

Speaking of the Ravens, they extended the contract of kicker Justin Tucker in the wake of Chris Boswell’s new contract in Pittsburgh.

It’s a four-year contract extension. His previous deal was through 2023 with a signing bonus/option bonus of $11.5M via ESPN.com. There is a guaranteed $17.5 million in the contract. The new money is $24 million. It’s a $6M average per year.

That makes him the NFL’s highest paid kicker, less than a week after Boswell signed a deal of his own that tied him with Tucker for that designation.

A five-time All-Pro, Tucker has made a record 91.1% of his field goal attempts, and his 1,360 points are the most ever by a player through his first 10 seasons. He is 16 of 16 on field goal attempts in the final minute of regulation and has converted 58 straight in the fourth quarter and overtime, the longest active streak in the league.