While Pittsburgh Steelers general manager Kevin Colbert said Wednesday the organization was putting free agency on the back burner, that edict apparently didn’t apply to XFL players.
Defensive lineman Cavon Walker, the XFL sacks leader with the New York Guardians, agreed to terms on a one-year contract with the Steelers, agent J.R. Rickert confirmed.
The Steelers also added his Guardians teammate Jarron Jones, an offensive tackle.
In five XFL games before the first-year league canceled its season because of the coronavirus pandemic, Walker had 19 tackles and a league-high 4 1/2 sacks. In his final XFL game March 5, Walker had five tackles, two sacks and four quarterback hits against the Dallas Renegades.
Rickert said NFL teams showed “a lot of interest” in signing Walker.
“This is what we felt would be like a good fit for him and his ability to rush the passer,” Rickert said.
Walker, 25, is 6-foot-2. He is listed at 284 pounds, but Rickert said Walker played at 290 pounds this past season.
“He’s bigger than advertised,” Rickert said.
Walker is a defensive tackle who spent time on the offseason rosters of the Chicago Bears and Kansas City Chiefs the past two seasons. He went undrafted out of Maryland in 2018.
The Steelers have a need at nose tackle after losing Javon Hargrave in free agency. They acquired Baltimore Ravens defensive end Chris Wormley in a trade last week.
Jones is a 6-foot-6, 320-pound tackle, who originally was signed as an undrafted free agent in 2017 by the New York Giants. A defensive lineman at Notre Dame, Jones was converted to offense when he joined the Seattle Seahawks practice squad that year. He also has spent time on the practice squad with the Dallas Cowboys and Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and he has attended training camp with the Detroit Lions and Buffalo Bills.
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