First Call: Steelers linked to high-profile free agent linebacker, cornerback; Penguins may get a break vs. Las Vegas

Friday’s “First Call” connects the Steelers to a pair of defensive standouts once free agency starts next week.

Meanwhile, a Pitt product may be “Plan B” in case the Steelers can’t keep a current starter.

It looks like the Penguins will face a backup goalie in their next game. And Pitt hockey is still alive in its postseason tournament.

Bringing in Bobby

Part of the Seattle Seahawks’ commitment to a rebuild was to say goodbye to former “Legion of Boom” Super Bowl winner Bobby Wagner. Now he is a free agent.

A six-time All-Pro, Wagner is 31 years old and is coming off a season in which he had 93 solo tackles and set a career high in total tackles (170). That was good enough to be second team All-Pro in 2021 before being released.

The NFL Network’s Aditi Kinkhabwala says that Wagner’s name is “being thrown around a lot” for the Steelers to acquire during free agency.

Why not? The Steelers can’t seem to find any answers when it comes to the inside linebacker position. Devin Bush had a bad year coming off knee surgery. Joe Schobert added little after being acquired in a trade before the start of last season, and Robert Spillane appears to be little more than a solid backup.

Pro Football Focus ranked Wagner 15th among linebackers last season, ninth against the run.

The Game Day NFL’s Jordan Schultz also reported that the Steelers may have an interest.

Do the Carlton

Another defensive free agent that may be of interest to the Steelers is Carlton Davis.

On Thursday, Andrew Fillipponi of 93.7 The Fan reported that an NFL source has told him the Steelers may be in the bidding for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers cornerback.

Source: The Steelers are targeting Bucs free agent corner Carlton Davis. #1 corner. Physical. Can play the run too. Stay tuned.

— Andrew Fillipponi (@ThePoniExpress) March 10, 2022

“The only reason why the Bucs did not franchise tag him, from what this (source) told me, is because of (former Penn State wide receiver) Chris Godwin,” added Fillipponi. “They actually had a debate about which one to franchise tag and they settled on Godwin, but it was not an open-and-shut, black-and-white thing.”

NFL.com has Davis listed as the second-best cornerback available (behind New England Patriot J.C. Jackson) in free agency and the fourth best free agent overall.

The 25-year-old Davis is 6-foot-1 and 206 pounds. Over his first four years in Tampa Bay, the Auburn product totaled 207 total tackles (175 solo), six interceptions, 52 passes defensed, nine tackles for loss, two forced fumbles and three fumble recoveries.

CBS recently projected Davis to the New York Jets on a four-year, $56 million contract.

The Steelers have Joe Haden, Ahkello Witherspoon and Arthur Maulet all poised to hit free agency from their cornerback depth chart.

But wait! There’s more

Fillipponi also added that the Steelers are interested in retaining free agent safety Terrell Edmunds.

If Edmunds does walk, another Bucs defensive back may be on their radar.

Source: Steelers will make an effort to re-sign Terrell Edmunds. If he goes to market next week, look for the Steelers to make a play for former Pitt safety Jordan Whitehead.

— Andrew Fillipponi (@ThePoniExpress) March 10, 2022

Jordan Whitehead had 73 tackles, a forced fumble and two interceptions in his fourth year in Tampa Bay. He started 55 of 59 games in his career.

Edmunds also played four years with the Steelers, starting 60 of 64 games. In 2021, he had 89 total tackles, plus two interceptions and a sack to go along with six pass breakups.

Losing Lehner

It doesn’t appear that the Las Vegas Golden Knights will have their starting goalie when they play the Penguins at PPG Paints Arena Friday night.

Robin Lehner left Vegas’ road trip and wasn’t in net during the team’s game in Buffalo Thursday night. Laurent Brossoit was. He only saw 23 shots, stopping 21. But the Knights lost 3-1.

The game was 1-1 with just under four minutes remaining until Buffalo’s Victor Olofsson ripped a beautiful power play snipe.

Let it rip, @vickeo!#LetsGoBuffalo | @NewWaveEnergyCo pic.twitter.com/8eDHVeb16D

— Buffalo Sabres (@BuffaloSabres) March 11, 2022

Former Golden Knight Alex Tuch inflicted the final damage with an empty netter. Vegas called up goalie Logan Thompson from the minors, too.

Lehner missed five games with an upper body injury at the end of February. Now he’s dealing with a lower body injury of some sort.

Via Sportsnet, Golden Knights coach Peter DeBoer didn’t provide details on the injury except to say it’s not related to the upper body injury that led to Lehner missing five games late last month.

Lehner is 21-15-1. His goals against average is 2.77, with a save percentage of 90.9%.

Panthers still skating

Pitt’s club hockey team is still alive in St. Louis for the American College Hockey Association Division I national tournament. The Panthers won their first game on Thursday against Navy 5-1.

Devin Barresi stopped 23 of 24 shots. Oldrich Virag scored twice.

Panthers will face @UNLVRebelHockey tomorrow at 10:15 AM CST. pic.twitter.com/AiNHxYW9Ko

— Pitt Men’s Hockey (@D1PittHockey) March 10, 2022

Up next, the 13^th-seeded Panthers face 4^th-seeded UNLV at 11:15 a.m. eastern time Friday.