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Daniels signed to three-year contract

Mar 17, 2022 at 03:20 PM

Teresa Varley

Steelers.com

The Steelers signed free agent offensive lineman James Daniels to a three-year contract.

Daniels spent his first four seasons in the NFL with the Chicago Bears, who selected him in the second round of the 2018 NFL Draft, the 39th overall selection.

In four seasons Daniels has played in 54 games, starting 48 of them. He has started 23 games at left guard, 17 at right guard and eight at center.

In 2021 he started all 17 games for the Bears at right guard, part of a line that blocked for an offense that had multiple 100-yard rushing games during the season.

The 2020 season didn't play out the way he would have liked. He started the first five games at left guard, before suffering a pectoral injury against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Week 5, causing him to miss the rest of the season.

The 2019 season saw Daniels split time between center and left guard, starting all 16 games but splitting the positions. He started the eight games at center, before moving to left guard for the second half of the season.

Daniels has been a regular in the starting lineup since his rookie season, when he played in 16 games, starting 10 at left guard. He was part of a line that season that allowed just 33 sacks, which was tied for third fewest in the NFC. He was also named to the 2018 ESPN.com All-Rookie team.

Daniels played college football at the University of Iowa where he started 23 games at center in his three seasons.

Daniels joins a Steelers offensive line that at the start of free agency includes interior linemen Kevin Dotson, Kendrick Green, Nathan Gilliam, John Leglue, Malcolm Pridgeon and J.C. Hassenauer, who is an exclusive rights free agent, and tackles Chukwuma Okorafor, Dan Moore Jr., Chaz Green and Joe Haeg.