Chuks Okorafor dipped his toe into the free agent pool on Monday. But in the end, the 24-year-old offensive tackle decided there was no place like home.
After listening to offers from a couple of other teams. Okorafor agreed to re-join the Steelers according to NFL.com. The total three-year deal is worth as much as $29.5 million and will include $20.5 million in the first two seasons.
Okorafor, a third-round draft pick in 2018, returns to the Steelers, where he's been the team's starting right tackle the past two seasons.
The team then added former Cardinals and Vikings guard/center Mason Cole on a three-year deal, bringing a veteran interior lineman to the mix.
In 2021, Okorafor was credited with allowing just one sack, though he did commit eight penalties, with six being false starts.
Okorafor has appeared in 32 games the past two seasons for the Steelers, making 31 starts. He initially lost a training camp battle to Zach Banner for the right tackle job in 2020, but took over at that position after Banner suffered a torn ACL in the team's regular season opener.
He has held down the position since.
Okorafor gets a $9.25 million signing bonus with base salaries of $1.25 million in 2022, $6 million in 2023 and $4.75 million in 2024. He also has a roster bonus of $4 million in 2023 and 2024. That means he counts just $4.3 million against the team's salary cap in 2022.
Banner is due to make $5 million in 2022 with a cap hit of $6.25 million. He is in danger of being released after playing just five offensive snaps in 2021.
Even with Okorafor back in the fold, the Steelers could still potentially add an offensive tackle in the draft. The Steelers selected rookie Dan Moore in the fourth round of the 2021 draft and he wound up being the team's starting left tackle opposite Okorafor after Banner was unable to return from his knee injury.
Cole's deal calls for him to make $15.75 million with $11 million paid out over the first two seasons of the three-year deal, which includes his signing bonus. That means he'll likely count around $3.5 million in 2022.
Cole, also a third-round pick in 2018, appeared in 46 games, making 32 starts in three seasons with the Cardinals. The former Michigan star joined the Vikings last season in a trade and appeared in 14 games, making seven starts, four at center and three at guard before missing the final three games of the season with an elbow injury.
He measured in at 6-foot-4 and 307 pounds at the NFL Scouting Combine in 2018. Cole started at right guard during Minnesota's 36-28 win over the Steelers last season in which the Vikings rushed for 242 yards.
Cole has starting experience at both guard and center and gives the Steelers options at both spots if second-year center Kendrick Green struggles again in 2022.
The move to re-sign Okorafor and add Cole comes after the Steelers addressed their need at quarterback by signing free agent Mitchell Trubisky.
The team on Monday also tendered restricted free agents linebacker Robert Spillane and Marcus Allen at the lowest level, meaning they will count $2.43 million against the team's salary cap in 2022. But they're also free to sign elsewhere, with the Steelers only having an opportunity to match the deal or receive nothing in return.
The Steelers also placed an original round tender on quarterback Dwayne Haskins of $2.54 million. If a team signs Haskins to a contract, the Steelers would receive a first-round pick as compensation. Haskins was a first-round pick of Washington in the 2019 draft.