The Pittsburgh Steelers will face many difficult decisions over the next month. Who to re-sign? Who to let go? Who to re-structure and so on… One such move that Omar Khan and company must deal with is what to do with defensive lineman Larry Ogunjobi.
Soon to be entering his ninth season in the NFL, Ogunjobi was a solid free agent signing in 2022. In his three years in the Steel City he’s played in 48 games (out of 51) and largely been as important as any D-Lineman not named Cam Heyward. He’s also been pretty consistent with 48, 43 and 41 tackles in his three seasons for the Steelers but that slight decline was mirrored by drops in solo tackles and QB hits.
These weren’t massive drops in production but they were drops nevertheless. Let’s also keep in mind that Ogunjobi has rarely practiced, especially this past season. Limiting his practice time underscored the team’s dependence on his ability. In other words, they needed him for Sundays and didn’t want to risk him getting injured during the week. His injury issues were that sensitive.
With these things in mind Ogunjobi enters the final year of his contract in 2025 and the Steelers have some choices. He has a roster bonus of $3 million due on March 15th meaning whatever they choose will likely need to be before then. There are some other options that could kick the can down the road but I don’t see Ogunjobi agreeing to those. Ultimately, cutting him could save some money – $7 million – against the cap.
With Cam Heyward’s status uncertain, Ogunjobi remains an important figure for the Steelers. Keannu Benton returns after a really good season and DeMarvin Leal is coming off a season ending injury with a role that is yet to be defined. There was no doubt that Mike Tomlin and his staff spent the bulk of their time at the Senior Bowl looking at defensive linemen but adding there is a no-brainer regardless of what they do with Ogunjobi.
He’s never been flashy or a guy that made game-changing plays but he’s been available and has been a fairly steady presence too. With so much uncertainty on the D-Line, the ball could be in his court for the time being.
