PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – It probably speaks to the success on that side of the ball as the top five Steelers free agent signees of all-time are on defense.
Here is a look at the best handful with a couple of honorable mentions at the end.
James Farrior
The eighth overall pick of the Jets in 1997, Farrior would spend five years with the Jets before signing with the Steelers in 2002. He brought consistency to the position, taking over for Earl Holmes. The middle linebacker went on to be the Steelers all-time leading tackler by 61, finishing his career with 740, 345 solo (NFL didn’t start keeping official tackle stats until 1994). He had six seasons with 100+ tackles with the Steelers including 141 in 2003 and 109 as a 35-year-old in 2010.
Farrior forced 12 fumbles, intercepted eight passes with 82 tackles for loss in his time with the Steelers winning a pair of championships.
James Harrison
Up until early in the 2023 season, James Harrison was the Steelers all-time leading sacker. Signed as an undrafted free agent in 2002, he would be signed a few times as a free agent by the Steelers. The breakthrough started in 2007, when the former Kent State star had seven forced fumbles, 8.5 sacks, 12 tackles for loss and 17 quarterback hits finishing in the Top 10 for the Defensive Player of the Year. He would win that award in the next season finishing with 16 sacks, seven forced fumbles, 16 tackles for loss, 19 QB hits, 101 tackles and a safety. For a player no one wanted, Harrison finished with 80.5 carre sacks, 122 tackles for loss and a pair of Super Bowl rings in Pittsburgh.
Kevin Greene
It was a short run in Pittsburgh, but outside linebacker Kevin Greene seemed born to play in the Steelers defense.
After eight years with the Rams, Greene signed with the Steelers in 1993 and over three seasons had 35.5 sacks and was a Pro Bowler every year. Elected into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, Greene finished with 160 career sacks in 16 seasons
Joe Haden
Released by the Browns at the end of training camp in 2017, the opportunistic Steelers scooped him up. Haden not only started 67 games with Pittsburgh, but finished with 10 interceptions, three forced fumbles, 54 passes defended and 238 tackles. He brought a stability to the back-end of the defense playing over 91% of the snaps in every season but his last where he was limited to 11 games and 78% of the snaps.
Ryan Clark
He once laid someone out in a Pro Bowl. That speaks to the intensity that Ryan Clark played with on every snap.
At 5’11”, he wasn’t the biggest player, but always played big. He began his career with a pair of seasons with the Giants and Washington before coming to the Steelers in 2006. He played 109 games with 667 tackles, 12 interceptions, three forced fumbles, 44 passes defensed. In six playoff games-32 tackles (24 solo), an interception, a pair of forced fumbles, two passes defensed and three tackles for loss. Known now for his hard-hitting words, before that he laid the wood in the Steelers secondary.
Honorable mention-center Jeff Hartings (took over two seasons after Hall of Famer Dermontti Dawson to play 90 games and won Super Bowl XL), kicker Gary Anderson (signed after he was released in Bills training camp, went on to become the NFL’s third all-time leading scorer, 1,343 of those points with the Steelers)