The Pittsburgh Steelers found themselves a new big hitter on the defensive side of the ball in Mark Barron, and the good news is that it didn’t cost them anything. Well, they did reportedly give him a two-year, $12 million contract, nearly half of which is coming in the form of a signing bonus.
But the more significant cost could have been a third-round pick. Because Barron was released by the Los Angeles Rams earlier this offseason, he is classified as a street free agent rather than an unrestricted free agent, and because of that, his signing does not factor into the compensatory draft pick formula.