Pittsburgh Steelers announce Robert Spillane is coming back

The decision is in for the Pittsburgh Steelers. Robert Spillane is coming back.

Spillane signed a one-year restricted free agent tender to remain with the Steelers, the team announced Friday. He just wrapped up his third season with Pittsburgh after starting his career with the Tennessee Titans.

Spillane played college football at Western Michigan before going to the Titans as an undrafted free agent in 2018. After a year there, he signed with the Pittsburgh Steelers before moving to the practice squad. He later came back to the active roster, and in 2020, became the Steelers’ starting linebacker after Devin Bush Jr. tore his ACL against the Cleveland Browns.

Over the last two seasons, Spillane played in 26 games — including 11 starts — and totaled 101 tackles in that time. In 2020, he had two sacks and a 33-yard pick-six against Baltimore.

Pittsburgh Steelers re-sign safety Karl Joseph, still considering ‘Honey Badger’

The Pittsburgh Steelers have the pieces in place to have another top-tier defense in 2022, minus voids in the secondary. There’s no question Minkah Fitzpatrick will be playing one of the safety positions, but the Steelers — who are also dealing with salary cap issues and turnover at both general manager and defensive coordinator — have some key decisions to make.

On Thursday, the organization added a low-cost safety blanket by re-signing former first-round safety Karl Joseph, who joined the organization last season but spent most of the year on the practice squad. Joesph did finally make the 53-man roster for the Pittsburgh Steelers for two games, recording just 17 snaps on defense and 14 on special teams.

This is the kind of move that feels like insurance at the Steelers’ brass continues to mull over options to start opposite of Fitzpatrick.

With starting strong safety Terrell Edmunds— who has been inconsistent since selected in the first-round out of Virginia Tech but had his best season in 2021 — still unsigned as an unrestricted free agent, fans want the Steelers to replace him in the lineup with Kansas City Chiefs free-agent safety Tyrann Mathieu.

According to ESPN’S Jeremy Fowler, the Steelers are considering the “Honey Badger,” but it feels like a stretch.

Mathieu, Damontae Kazee and bringing back Terrell Edmunds are the three viable options for the Pittsburgh Steelers based on reports.

Fowler described the Mathieu interest as “chatter,” but there is no denying he and Fitzpatrick would immediately form the most formidable safety pairing in the league.

“(Mathieu) plays with the kind of edge that would seamlessly fit in Pittsburgh,” Fowler wrote.