10 upcoming free agent with obvious ties to the Steelers

Steelers could sign Khaleke Hudson

2020 was a weird offseason. That was the year that COVID-19 started, so it made the pre-draft tracking difficult. The Steelers met with a handful of names at settings like the Senior Bowl before face-to-face meetings were stopped. Pittsburgh did a plethora of Zoom meetings, but the list of names from there isn’t available.

A name that they did meet with was former Michigan safety Khaleke Hudson. One of the new-age big safeties that converted to linebacker, it took Hudson a while to find his footing. That said he was a rotational player on the Commanders' defense this past season and more than held his own.

Where he really shines is as a special teams player. Since entering the league, he hasn’t played less than 73 percent of Washington’s special teams snaps. He is a force there, and that can continue to be his calling card even with an uptick in defensive snaps.

Hudson likely won’t command a huge deal this offseason. While he has value, most teams will want to pay him for his special team's ability over his defensive work. For a Steelers linebacker room that should retain Cole Holcomb and Elandon Roberts, Hudson would be a perfect cheap compliment to this defense with an instant role as a coverage man on the return team.