Steelers, Villanueva Agree To Extension

Alejandro Villanueva has himself a new deal. The Steelers offensive tackle has agreed to a fresh four-year deal with the Steelers, according to Jeremy Fowler of ESPN.com (on Twitter). Alejandro Villanueva (Vertical)

The four-year deal is worth $24MM, a source tells Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (on Twitter), with $14MM over the first two years. It’s a big step up considering that he was slated for a $615K salary this year as an exclusive rights free agent, but it’s still a team-friendly deal on the whole when considering Villanueva’s talent level. The top ten tackles in the league are making five figures per year and Villanueva effectively added three seasons at an average of $7.8MM. Villanueva may not be a top ten talent at the position, but he’s not far off and he’s just entering his prime years. The tackle turns 29 in September.

Villanueva waited to sign his ERFA tender this offseason in hopes that he could hammer out a long-term extension with Pittsburgh instead. Even though he wasn’t eligible to reach the open market until 2018, the Steelers opted to do right by one of its most important offensive linemen while also securing him for years to come.

Since debuting in 2015, Villanueva has appeared in 32 straight games, including 26 starts. He started every Steelers game last year and was the only member of its offense to play on all 1,083 of the unit’s snaps.

Last year, he was the 24th best offensive tackle in the NFL, per Pro Football Focus.

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