Larry Ogunjobi to Steelers

Former Cincinnati Bengals defensive tackle Larry Ogunjobi is signing a one-year deal with the Pittsburgh Steelers, per NFL insider Adam Schefter.

Ogunjobi, a sixth-year player in 2022, spent one season with the Bengals in 2021. On a one-year, $6.8 million deal, Ogunjobi played and started 17 games, including the playoffs, and recorded 29 solo tackles, 12 tackles for loss, and seven sacks. Perhaps his most memorable moment came in the Wild Card round against the Las Vegas Raiders when he recovered a Derek Carr fumble in the first quarter.

That game would be the end of Ogunjobi’s time in Cincinnati as he injured his foot later in the evening. The injury would take him out of the playoffs and would ultimately interfere with his free agency plans. After talks fell through with the Bengals in mid-March, Ogunjobi agreed to terms with the Chicago Bears on a three-year, $40.5 million contract, but a failed physical terminated the deal. Since then, he has been looking for a new team, and he’s now found one with the Steelers.

There were rumors that Ogunjobi and the Bengals could reunite sometime this offseason, but the logic never quite made sense. Cincinnati agreed to pay Ogunjobi’s running mate, B.J. Hill, $30 million over the next three years to start at the 3-technique spot, leaving Ogunjobi nothing more than a potential rotational role. Ogunjobi deserves to start when he fully recovers, and he wouldn’t have gotten that opportunity with the Bengals after Hill signed that contract.

Ogunjobi was originally a third-round pick of the Cleveland Browns in 2017, where he spent the first four years of his career. Now a member of the Steelers, he will play for his third AFC North team. Perhaps he will join the Baltimore Ravens before he hangs up the cleats.