Two days after a report surfaced that he was returning to the Pittsburgh Steelers, defensive end Dean Lowry isn’t coming back to the Steelers after all. At least, he isn’t yet.
NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reported Tuesday that Lowry will take more time this offseason before signing a contract with any NFL team.
“Upon further review: Dean Lowry has decided to take a little more time to work into playing shape,” wrote Rapoport on X. “He did not take a physical, but he has been fully cleared from last season’s injury.”
In the latest update, Rapoport quote posted his original report from Sunday that Lowry was re-signing with the Steelers.
Lowry sat out all of last season with the Steelers because of an ACL tear. The defensive lineman suffered the injury during 2025 training camp.
In 2024, Lowry appeared in 12 games for the Steelers, posting five combined tackles, one sack and one pass defense.
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The way Rapoport phrased the wording in his social media post, it sounds as though Lowry will still eventually sign with the Steelers. But it hasn’t happened yet. It also doesn’t sound like it will happen in the immediate future.
If his signing was imminent, then Rapoport probably wouldn’t have felt the need to walk back his report from Sunday.
Lowry began his NFL career as a fourth-round pick for the Green Bay Packers in 2016. He spent seven years with the Packers, where he started 80 games. In Green Bay, he had 252 combined tackles, including 23 for loss. Lowry also registered 15.5 sacks and 16 pass defenses.
In 2023, he spent the season with the Minnesota Vikings. Lowry played in nine games, starting four of them.
Lowry signed with the Steelers in March 2024 about two weeks after the Vikings released him.
During the 2024 campaign in Pittsburgh, Lowry played 159 defensive snaps. That was his fewest in a season since his rookie campaign of 2016.
Lowry also lined up for 31 special teams snaps for Pittsburgh in 2024.
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With Lowry’s return, the Steelers appeared to be adding more defensive line depth. Without him, the team’s depth along the defensive front takes a hit, but the Steelers are still in decent shape along the line.
Last year’s starters, Cameron Heyward, Keeanu Benton and Derrick Harmon are all set to return. Second-year defensive lineman Yahya Black, who played well as a fifth-round rookie in 2025, will be back too.
In NFL free agency this offseason, the Steelers added Sebastian Joseph-Day and Jahvaree Ritzie.
If the Steelers re-add Lowry to their roster at any later point this offseason, he will likely compete with Joseph-Day and Ritzie for playing time. Lowry may have to outperform one of them to be guaranteed a roster spot.
Perhaps that’s why he ultimately had a change in heart signing with the Steelers. This is pure speculation — but he could be weighing other options, depending on depth charts around the league after the 2026 NFL Draft and undrafted free agency.
The Steelers also have defensive linemen Esezi Otomewo, Logan Lee, Anthony Goodlow, and Kyler Baugh on their offseason roster. The team added defensive end Gabriel Rubio in the sixth round of the draft as well.
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