The Steelers announced on Thursday afternoon that they have released guard David DeCastro.
"David was without a doubt one of the premier offensive linemen during his time with us," said General Manager and Vice President Kevin Colbert said in a statement. "He helped us win a lot of football games, but it was David's consistency, reliability and professionalism that stood out more than anything else. We wish him the best moving forward in his career."
A staple on the team's offensive line for nearly a decade, DeCastro was selected by the Steelers in the first round of the 2012 NFL Draft, the 24th pick overall, out of Stanford. Over the course of his Steelers career, DeCastro was one of the most stable forces on a line that was consistently considered among the best in the NFL. He and the offensive line helped to provide a security blanket for Ben Roethlisberger, who threw for over 4,000 yards four times during DeCastro's nine seasons. Over the course of his Steelers career, the offense also featured a 1,000 yard rusher three times. Pittsburgh was also the least sacked team in 2020 and the least sacked team overall since 2014. In fact, the Steelers were the second least-sacked team in the NFL since DeCastro entered the League in 2012.
During his nine-year Steelers' career, he played in 125 games, starting all but one of them. His 124 career starts rank 11th all-time among Steelers offensive lineman and sixth among guards.
He was voted AP first-team All-Pro twice (2015, 2017), and second-team All-Pro once (2016).
He was also voted to six straight Pro Bowls (2015-2020), including last season despite missing playing time. The only Steelers' offensive linemen voted to more Pro Bowls in their careers were Mike Webster (9), Maurkice Pouncey (9), Dermontti Dawson (7) and Alan Faneca (7), three of whom are Pro Football Hall of Famers.
He was voted the recipient of "The Chief" Award by the Pittsburgh Chapter of the Pro Football Writers of America in 2017, honoring a player who displayed the cooperation with the media that Art Rooney Sr. embodied.
