Steelers agree to deals with lineman, special teams player in free agency

Dipping their toes into the free agency waters Saturday, the Pittsburgh Steelers agreed to contracts with former Detroit Lions special teamer Miles Killebrew and former Tampa Bay Buccaneers guard/tackle Joe Haeg, the NFL Network reported.

Killebrew’s signing, which was confirmed by the Tribune-Review, is for one year.

Killebrew and Haeg are the first outside free agents added this year by the Steelers, who have re-signed cornerback Cameron Sutton, right tackle Zach Banner and wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster this week.

Killebrew, 27, is a former fourth-round pick of the Lions, and he spent his first five seasons in Detroit. He played in 78 of a possible 80 games and made four starts.

Killebrew was drafted as a strong safety but converted to inside linebacker, a similar move made by the Steelers’ Marcus Allen. He also emerged as a core special teams player and has not played extensively on defense since 2017.

In four of his five seasons with the Lions, Killebrew logged at least 73% of the special teams snaps.

Haeg, 28, can play guard and tackle, providing the type of versatility the Steelers lost when Matt Feiler signed with the Los Angeles Chargers in free agency.

Haeg was a member of the Super Bowl champion Buccaneers in 2020 after spending four seasons with the Indianapolis Colts. After not seeing the field for the first four weeks, Haeg played in the final four games of the regular season and made two starts at tackle and one at left guard. He also played in all four playoff games en route to Tampa Bay’s title, and he memorably dropped a pass in the end zone on a tackle-eligible play.

A fifth-round pick of the Colts in 2016, Haeg started 29 games in his first two seasons. He only started two more times over the next two years before signing with Tampa Bay.