In what was something of a surprise, the Pittsburgh Steelers signed free-agent tight end Eric Ebron to a two-year, $12 million contract on Friday. After opting to restructure the contract of Vance McDonald rather than release him, we thought the Steelers were done with the tight end position.
Here are three things the signing of Ebron means for the Steelers.
A commitment to using tight ends in the passing game
There was a time when the Steelers loved using two tight ends on a regular basis. But we saw this philosophy go to the wayside in favor of more sets using an extra offensive lineman instead. Ebron is easily the best receiving tight end on the team and so you have to assume the goal here is to get him and McDonald on the field together as weapons for Ben Roethlisberger.