Newly signed Markus Golden accepting of role as No. 3 outside linebacker in Steelers defense

For the third year in a row, the Pittsburgh Steelers added a veteran outside linebacker on a one-year contract.

Perhaps by bringing in Markus Golden during offseason workouts — as opposed to later in the summer — the organization can avoid the issues that arose in the previous two years.

In 2021, Melvin Ingram was signed in July to be the No. 3 linebacker, but he balked at his lack of playing time and was traded in midseason to the Kansas City Chiefs.

Last year, the Steelers waited until after final roster cuts were made before trading for Denver’s Malik Reed, who made little impact in his backup role before departing in free agency.

Now, they will try the third-time-is-the-charm theory with the 32-year-old Golden, a ninth-year veteran who signed a one-year deal last week that includes $1.165 million in base salary. After participating in his first offseason workout with his new team, Golden said all the right things about his role as the top backup behind starters T.J. Watt and Alex Highsmith.

“Whatever coach wants me to do, I’m going to be ready to come in and hunt and do what the team needs me to do,” Golden said. “I’m all about winning at the end of the day.”

Ingram, though, seemingly was content with his role as a backup to Watt and Highsmith when he initially joined the Steelers. When he visited with the Steelers last week before signing his contract, the 6-foot-3, 260-pound Golden said he received no assurances about playing time or snap counts.

“I don’t need all that,” he said. “I know how football is. You can sit here and tell somebody anything. At the end of the day, I know how football is. Anything can happen. What I’m going to do is go hard every day, come to work every day, learn from these guys. When the time comes, whether I play one play or if I play 30 plays, I’m going to go hard on all those plays.”

As recently as two seasons ago, Golden was one of the NFL’s top pass rushers. In 2021, at the outset of his second stint with the Arizona Cardinals, Golden posted 11 sacks. It was the third time in his NFL career — 2019 with the New York Giants and 2016 with the Cardinals were the others — when he had double-digit sacks.

Last year, though, Golden’s production dipped to 2.5 sacks while playing 70% of the defensive snaps and starting 14 games for the Cardinals.

“Some seasons you come out and get a lot of sacks,” he said. “Some seasons you come out and work as hard as you did the year before, and the sacks don’t fall in your hands. That’s what I do this for. That’s why I love the game. It’s not always going to go your way, but are you going to pout about it or are you going to try to get back in the lab and work?

“That’s what I’m going to do.”

The addition of Golden makes him the oldest member of his position group. He entered the NFL two years before Watt joined the Steelers and has five more years of experience than Highsmith.

“He’s going to add a lot of value to our defense,” Highsmith said. “I’m going to learn a lot from him. When you have someone in the locker room who has done it, it’s awesome and it’s going to help us.”

Golden became a free agent when the Cardinals released him in March, and despite weighing what he said were a “couple” of offers, he remained unsigned until last week. He called the Steelers an ideal landing spot for several reasons.

First, his new position coach was his college roommate. At Missouri, Golden roomed with Denzel Martin, who has been on the Steelers staff since 2016 and is in his first year as the team’s outside linebackers coach.

Golden also wanted to play for Mike Tomlin. The two dined together in 2015 before Missouri’s pro day. The Steelers were interested in drafting a pass rusher that year and took Bud Dupree with the No. 22 overall pick. Golden went No. 58 to the Cardinals.

“Just the defense, to be able to come here and fly around,” said Golden, who mentioned watching James Harrison and La’Marr Woodley while he was growing up. “Knowing the rich history of great linebackers here flying around and making plays, I wanted to be a part of that.”

Now that Golden is, he’ll try to get up to speed with learning the team’s defense. By arriving in May, he has more of a chance to know the system than Ingram and Reed did in prior years.

“It’s never going to happen overnight,” Watt said. “It’s going to take some time, but we want to take each and every step in the right direction. We have a lot of time from here to there. It’s about getting everybody on the same page as quickly as possible so it makes everything go smoother.”