After spending the first five seasons of his career with the Atlanta Falcons, Keanu Neal has bounced around, playing one-year stints with the Dallas Cowboys and Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2021 and 2022, respectively.
Now, he’ll be on his fourth team in as many seasons.
Neal’s agent, David Canter of GSE Worldwide, announced on Thursday that Neal had signed a two-year deal with the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Congratulations to @gsefootball client @Keanu_Neal on agreeing to terms on a new 2 year contract to join @steelers pic.twitter.com/35BDtALrRt
— David Canter (@davidcanter) March 30, 2023
The news was generally met with positive reactions.
Let’s Go!
— Jordan York🎙 (@JordanYorkMusic) March 30, 2023
Congrats brother!
— Jesse Morse, MD, MBA (@DrJesseMorse) March 30, 2023
In a good system he can really be a guy. But gotta prove it. He was behind Edwards who went to chiefs, but Neal is just as talented, gotta prove it tho 🔥✍️😤 https://t.co/a4JvQn9ioT
— steelers_convo (@steelers_convo) March 30, 2023
#Steelers signed former first round pick and Tampa Bay Bucs safety Keanu Neal.
I like this signing. Allows Minkah to roam while Neal plays in the box.
I think he’s actually a slight upgrade over Edmunds.
Omar Khan has a plan. He was always going to.
— Mike Nicastro (@MikedUpSports1) March 30, 2023
Pittsburgh had an effective rushing defense in 2022. It’s 108.1 yards per game ranked ninth in the league. Against the pass, though, the Steelers struggled. Pittsburgh allowed 222.3, the No. 19 total in the league.
Neal’s best seasons were early in his career with the Falcons. But he’s shown more recently that he has enough in the tank to be an effective player, assuming he’s used in the right role.
On the field, Neal has bounced around a lot throughout his career. With Atlanta, he was used primarily as a defensive back. The Cowboys played him mostly at linebacker in 2021 and he returned mostly to safety in 2022 with Tampa.
He played in all 17 games for the Buccaneers in 2022, starting eight of them. In that time, Neal was in on 63 combined tackles. He also intercepted one pass and notched one-half sack.