The Steelers signed three free agents who played in the XFL, defensive end Dewayne Hendrix, safety Tyree Kinnel and linebacker/long snapper Christian Kuntz, to one-year contracts.
Hendrix, who played college football at the University of Pittsburgh, played for the St. Louis BattleHawks in the XFL. While with the BattleHawks he had four tackles, one sack and a quarterback hurry.
Hendrix originally entered the NFL as an undrafted rookie free agent following the 2019 NFL Draft with the Miami Dolphins. He played in the preseason, including having two sacks against the Atlanta Falcons and one against the New Orleans Saints, but was released before the start of the season.
Hendrix was signed to the Dolphins practice squad but released on Oct. 7. He went on to spend time with the Jacksonville Jaguars and Chicago Bears on their practice squads following his release.
Hendrix finished his Pitt career with 50 tackles, including 10 for a loss, seven and a half sacks and two fumble recoveries.
Kinnel played for the DC Defenders in the XFL and had had 17 tackles for the Defenders this season.
Kinnel was signed by the Cincinnati Bengals as an undrafted rookie free agent following the 2019 NFL Draft. He was released prior to the start of the season.
Kinnel was a college teammate of Devin Bush, Zach Gentry and newly acquired Chris Wormley at the University of Michigan. While at Michigan he had 154 career tackles, including 103 solo stops, nine tackles for a loss and a sack. He also had two interceptions, one returned for a 14-yard touchdown in 2017, and seven pass defenses.
Kuntz was with the XFL's Dallas Renegades as a long snapper this season, but also plays linebacker.
He is no stranger to the Steelers after being signed during the preseason last year. He was released a few weeks later when the team cutdown to the 53-man roster.
Kuntz, who spent time on the Denver Broncos practice squad during the 2018 offseason, was later signed to the Jacksonville Jaguars practice squad at the end of the 2018 season and then signed a futures deal at the end of the year.
He played at Chartiers Valley High School and collegiately at Duquesne University. He finished with a school record 30.5 sacks, winning two Northeast Conference Defensive Player of the Year awards and is the only player in school history to earn All-American honors three times.
