PITTSBURGH — The Pittsburgh Steelers are bringing back one of their former special teams aces, signing former Buffalo Bills linebacker Tyler ‘Dirty Red’ Matakevich, the team announced.

Matakevich was the Steelers seventh-round pick out of Temples in 2016. He played four years in Pittsburgh, appearing in 63 games, primarily as a special teamer. He recorded 77 tackles during his career with the Steelers.

After leaving the Steelers in free agency in 2020 he signed with the Bills. He spent four years in Buffalo, being named captain and recording 55 tackles and playing 66 games.

Re-joining the Steelers should give Matakevich another opportunity to continue his special teams contributions in the NFL. Pittsburgh could be without Cole Holcomb at the start of the year and typically carry five linebackers into the season.

If Holcomb is not avaible, those five would include Patrick Queen, Payton Wilson, Elandon Roberts, Mark Robinson and Matakevich.

While Matakevich won’t compete for a starting job, he does bring leadership and more familairity to the Steelers defense and special teams unit.

With Miles Killebrew coming off an All-Pro season, Pittsburgh is developing another sound special teams unit that also includes names like Mark Robinson, Connor Heyward and could feature rookies like Payton Wilson and Roman Wilson.