Steelers free-agent-to-be Tyler Matakevich hopes value earns him new contract

Tyler Matakevich was at his locker the day after the Pittsburgh Steelers’ season ended last week. About a quarter of the team was gathered within a few feet of him whooping it up around a finger-soccer game set up on a pool table, and Matakevich scanned the group reflectively.

“All these dudes, man, these are some of my best friends over here,” Matakevich said. “But it’s crazy — it’s the last time you’ll see some of these guys.”

But was it the last time that any of those guys will see Matakevich in a Steelers locker room?

The answer will come soon. Matakevich is set for unrestricted free agency. And although he won’t command an eye-popping contract on the open market, Matakevich has shown value that has endeared himself to coaches and could be coveted by another team.

“The way the conversations I have had with ‘Coach T’ (Mike Tomlin) and (special teams coach Danny Smith), the respect that’s there and the way they look at me, I am grateful for that and appreciative of that,” Matakevich said. “It’s just nothing but respect both ways. I love those guys.”

Known as “Dirty Red” to Tomlin and teammates because of his red hair and thick red beard, Matakevich has become the Steelers’ most valuable special-teamer. This past season, he led the team in special-teams snaps with 337 and served as the unit’s captain most weeks.

Thanks to a late surge, #Steelers Tyler Matakevich, a fourth-year linebacker, finished with 87,863 fan votes, pushing him past Matthew Slater of the Patriots https://t.co/PwjPPtv55W

— Tribune-ReviewSports (@TribSports) December 17, 2019

Matakevich has averaged more than 300 special-teams snaps per season since he joined the Steelers in 2016. Tomlin loves having a stable, veteran core of special-teamers to rely on, bolstering the chances the Steelers bring back Matakevich.

“Shoot, I love this place,” Matakevich said. “I feel like I fit in, just blue-collar, chip-on-your-shoulder. … So, we’ll see what happens.”

Matakevich tied for the NFL lead in special teams tackles with 16, and he has finished in the top 10 of the league in that category during three of his four seasons.

But if there’s something Matakevich will acknowledge has been missing from his pro career, it’s playing on defense. After being only the seventh player in NCAA FBS history to have 100-plus tackles four consecutive seasons and winning the 2015 Bronko Nagurski and Chuck Bednarik awards as the nation’s best defensive player, Matakevich knows he can play defense.

And while his lack of great size or speed might suggest otherwise at the NFL level, Matakevich has been doubted before — he was a two-star recruit with just two scholarship offers before becoming a star at Temple. And then he joined Brett Keisel, David Johnson and Kelvin Beachum as the only Steelers’ seventh-round picks this century to make active roster as a rookie and stick around to fulfill his rookie contract.

It would seem a chance to play defense would be the most likely way another team could lure away Matakevich, who played a career-low 17 defensive snaps this season and has just 150 in his career. With Devin Bush, Mark Barron and Vince Williams ahead of him on the depth chart, there isn’t much promise that will change, either.

Tackling comes natural to Steelers' 7th-round pick Tyler Matakevich, reports @C_AdamskiTrib. https://t.co/rjfFtETGAA pic.twitter.com/uTM6uBo9qF

— Tribune-ReviewSports (@TribSports) May 7, 2016

“I have been playing linebacker all my life,” Matakevich said. “It kills me when I am not out there. If the opportunity presents itself where I can get a chance to do my team’s role and get a chance at linebacker, who knows?”

But if “Dirty Red” is welcomed back to the Steelers — even if he is limited to special teams — it doesn’t sound as if he would mind.

“Am I going to be one of the guys who are in the category like, ‘I don’t want to do (special teams)?’ ” Matakevich said. “You do that, then boom, that’s the end of it. That’s my value. I know what I bring at that and the numbers I put up at that.

“I mean, do I wanna do this? Are you kidding me? You are telling me you want me to run down on kickoffs for 10 years? Are you kidding me? I’ll tackle the guy with the ball. I have been doing this since I was 9 years old. ‘Find the guy with the ball!’

“It’s crazy how fast these four years have been, but I love it. I still love it, man. It’s awesome.”

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