Steelers nose tackle Tyson Alualu signs 2-year deal to return to Jacksonville

Tyson Alualu is leaving the Pittsburgh Steelers after four seasons to return to his former employer.

Alualu, an 11-year veteran nose tackle, has agreed to a two-year, $6 million contract with the Jacksonville Jaguars, his agent announced Tuesday.

The deal won’t become official until 4 p.m. Wednesday when the NFL begins its new calendar year.

The Steelers were hoping to retain Alualu, who turns 34 in May. Alualu, a valuable role player along the defensive line in base and subpackage sets, replaced Javon Hargrave as the starter last season.

Alualu made 10 starts and appeared in 15 games. He had 38 tackles, two sacks and a career-high five pass breakups while playing 44% of the defensive snaps. In four seasons with the Steelers, he made 22 starts and played in 62 of a possible 64 games.

I’m sick..... losing another great teammate in Tyson! Damn my boo ray partner gone lol pic.twitter.com/5O3avg1dgU

— Cam Heyward (@CamHeyward) March 16, 2021

The Steelers, however, entered the legal tampering period of free agency with less than $6 million under the salary cap, and they used $2.09 million of cap space to re-sign cornerback Cameron Sutton.

Alualu was the 10^th overall pick of the Jaguars in 2010 and spent his first seven seasons in Jacksonville. He joined the Steelers in 2017 and signed another two-year contract before the 2019 season.

The Steelers will need to find someone to complement defensive tackle Cameron Heyward and defensive end Stephon Tuitt. They could replace Alualu with Carlos Davis, their seventh-round pick in the 2020 draft. Davis appeared in seven games as a rookie. Isaiah Buggs remains on the roster, but he was inactive for four of the final five regular season games and again in the wild-card playoff loss to Cleveland.