While Bud Dupree left his Pittsburgh visit without a deal, the Steelers are not letting Markus Golden do the same. The veteran edge rusher met with the team Wednesday and intends to sign, Adam Schefter of ESPN.com tweets.
The sides agreed on a one-year contract. This comes two-plus months after the Cardinals cut ties with Golden, who enjoyed two stints in Arizona. The ninth-year outside linebacker will now be positioned to work as a rotational rusher behind starters T.J. Watt and Alex Highsmith.
This signing gives the Steelers four pass rushers who have totaled a double-digit sack season. Altogether, this quartet — Watt, Highsmith, Golden, Cameron Heyward — has combined for 11 such seasons. Golden has contributed three over the course of his career, the most recent coming in 2021 (11 sacks). While Golden did not approach that total last season, he displayed similar pressure numbers by totaling more quarterback hits (20) than he did in 2021 (19).
Golden is heading into his age-32 season, making this signing similar to the Melvin Ingram addition of 2021. The Steelers will obviously hope this turns out better. They ended up trading a disgruntled Ingram to Kansas City, where he closed out his age-32 season. Golden has a more productive recent past compared to Ingram at this point in their respective careers.
Consistency has eluded Golden, however. The former second-round pick surged to a career-best 12.5 sacks in 2016, but a 2017 ACL tear sapped that momentum. Golden did not regain his pre-surgery form in 2018, leading to the Giants taking a one-year flier during the 2019 free-agency period. That bet paid off. The Giants, who had traded Jason Pierre-Paul and Olivier Vernon in consecutive offseasons, saw Golden lead their 2019 edition in sacks (10). New York cuffed Golden via the rarely used UFA tender in 2020 but traded him back to Arizona that October. Golden spent the past two-plus seasons with the Cardinals, delivering up-and-down production.
With Chandler Jones out for most of the 2020 season, Golden totaled just three sacks as a Cardinal. The Cards still re-signed Golden to a two-year, $5M deal in 2021, leading to the 11-sack showing opposite Jones. After Jones left for Las Vegas last year, Golden totaled just 2.5 sacks — his lowest number since 2017. The Steelers, however, should offer Golden plenty of favorable matchups. Watt and Michael Strahan share the official single-season sack record (22.5), and Highsmith moved himself onto the extension radar with a 14.5-sack slate late year.
The Steelers have not received the production they have sought from their top OLB backup in recent years; Ingram and Malik Reed each registered one sack during their respective years in Pittsburgh. (Reed, a 2022 trade acquisition, has since signed with the Dolphins.) Golden should provide a higher floor for this role, as the Steelers — the league’s sack champions from 2017-21 — aim to keep their pass rush elite.
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