Pittsburgh Steelers release TE Ladarius Green

The Pittsburgh Steelers have released tight end Ladarius Green just one year after signing him to a free agent deal.

An interesting new free agent has hit the waiver wire with the news that the Pittsburgh Steelers have released tight end Ladarius Green just one season after signing him to a free agent deal.

Green should be familiar to Kansas City Chiefs fans given that Green was originally with the San Diego Chargers for his first four seasons in the league. Green was drafted to help potentially transition when Antonio Gates, the great veteran starter for the Chargers, was going to retire or to provide some cushion during seasons when he’s injured.

Last season, the Chargers selected Hunter Henry in the second round and the Steelers paid fairly handsomely to get Green away from San Diego. He signed a 4-year, $20 million deal with Pittsburgh to help replace Heath Miller and give another offensive weapon for Big Ben Roethlisberger. Unfortunately, injuries continued to get the best of Green during his only year in Pittsburgh, limiting him to only two starts and six games total.

For teams who might be interested in a low-risk, higher-reward sort of signing, Green represents just that. Even in such limited duty, Green had 18 catches for 304 yards and 1 touchdown and averaged an eye-popping 16.9 yards/catch. When he finally got healthy at midseason, Green had 6 catches for 110 yards in a win over the New York Giants.

The Chiefs have already made a few moves this offseason at tight end, including the signing of former Cowboys TE Gavin Escobar and the trade of James O’Shaughnessy to the New England Patriots. Demetrius Harris is also waiting on the legal system to decide on his felony marijuana possession charge. But if Dorsey decided there was room for a solid No. 2 in case he thought Harris might face a stiff punishment, Green would be a nice addition.