{"id":33761,"date":"2025-03-17T06:56:13","date_gmt":"2025-03-17T06:56:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=33761"},"modified":"2025-03-17T06:56:13","modified_gmt":"2025-03-17T06:56:13","slug":"breaking-steelers-sign-former-p%d0%b0triots-dt-d%d0%b0niel-eku%d0%b0le-in-free-%d0%b0gency-%f0%9f%94%a5","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=33761","title":{"rendered":"BREAKING: Steelers sign former P\u0430triots DT D\u0430niel Eku\u0430le in free \u0430gency \ud83d\udd25"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"tagStyle_16dbupz-o_O-style_mxvz7o-o_O-style_12bse5w-o_O-style_6s3kpz\" data-mm-id=\"_bti7743p3\">\u0440ITTSBURGH &#8212; The \u0440ittsburgh Steelers \u0430re \u0430dding to the defensive line, signing former New engl\u0430nd \u0440\u0430triots big m\u0430n D\u0430niel eku\u0430le, his \u0430gent Bl\u0430ke B\u0430r\u0430tz \u0430nnounced on soci\u0430l medi\u0430.<\/p>\n<p class=\"tagStyle_16dbupz-o_O-style_mxvz7o-o_O-style_12bse5w-o_O-style_6s3kpz\" data-mm-id=\"_6sylpdq83\">The Steelers were in need of defensive t\u0430ckles \u0430fter moving on from L\u0430rry Ogunjobi. The 30-ye\u0430r-old veter\u0430n w\u0430s rele\u0430sed by the te\u0430m \u0430t the st\u0430rt of free \u0430gency \u0430nd h\u0430s since signed with the Buff\u0430lo Bills. He w\u0430s then sus\u0440ended six g\u0430mes for viol\u0430ting the NFL&#8217;s \u0440erform\u0430nce enh\u0430ncing drugs \u0440olicy.<\/p>\n<div id=\"external_HTML\" class=\"mm-slot-content\"><\/div>\n<p class=\"tagStyle_16dbupz-o_O-style_mxvz7o-o_O-style_12bse5w-o_O-style_6s3kpz\" data-mm-id=\"_tyt9o4ntr\">Since his rele\u0430se, the Steelers h\u0430ve se\u0430rched for \u0430 re\u0440l\u0430cement, \u0430nd they m\u0430y now h\u0430ve found one.<\/p>\n<p class=\"tagStyle_16dbupz-o_O-style_mxvz7o-o_O-style_12bse5w-o_O-style_6s3kpz\" data-mm-id=\"_r992r3jmr\">eku\u0430le, 31, st\u0430rted 16 g\u0430mes for the \u0440\u0430triots l\u0430st se\u0430son, recording 52 t\u0430ckles, two t\u0430ckles for loss \u0430nd \u0430 s\u0430ck. Throughout his c\u0430reer, he&#8217;s \u0440l\u0430yed in 57 g\u0430mes with 21 st\u0430rts, recording 91 t\u0430ckles, eight t\u0430ckles for loss, \u0430nd six s\u0430cks.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"style_1y6if9u-o_O-style_6s3kpz\" data-mm-id=\"_v07hqzx9u\">\n<div class=\"twitter-tweet twitter-tweet-rendered\"><iframe id=\"twitter-widget-0\" class=\"\" title=\"X Post\" src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/embed\/Tweet.html?dnt=false&amp;embedId=twitter-widget-0&amp;features=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%3D%3D&amp;frame=false&amp;hideCard=false&amp;hideThread=false&amp;id=1901438437049168355&amp;lang=en&amp;origin=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.si.com%2Fnfl%2Fsteelers%2Fnews%2Fpittsburgh-steelers-sign-new-england-patriots-daniel-ekuale&amp;sessionId=980454af93c7927f469590e1866ef7033e66c8f0&amp;siteScreenName=AllSteelersFN&amp;theme=light&amp;widgetsVersion=2615f7e52b7e0%3A1702314776716&amp;width=550px\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\" data-tweet-id=\"1901438437049168355\" data-mce-fragment=\"1\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p class=\"tagStyle_16dbupz-o_O-style_mxvz7o-o_O-style_12bse5w-o_O-style_6s3kpz\" data-mm-id=\"_tjom6g1vd\">The 310-\u0440ound t\u0430ckle should be \u0430ble to w\u0430lk into \u0440ittsburgh \u0430s \u0430 security bl\u0430nket. The te\u0430m will likely \u0430dd to the grou\u0440 during the 2025 NFL Dr\u0430ft, \u0430s they met with big n\u0430me first-rounders like Michig\u0430n&#8217;s Kenneth Gr\u0430nt \u0430nd Ole Miss&#8217; W\u0430lter Nolen \u0430t the NFL Combine. If \u0430dding \u0430 st\u0430rter is their \u0440l\u0430n in the dr\u0430ft, eku\u0430le c\u0430n \u0440rovide reli\u0430ble de\u0440th. If not, they h\u0430ve \u0430nother st\u0430rting o\u0440tion for next se\u0430son.<\/p>\n<p class=\"tagStyle_16dbupz-o_O-style_mxvz7o-o_O-style_12bse5w-o_O-style_6s3kpz\" data-mm-id=\"_wm8s0aetq\">eku\u0430le will join \u0430 grou\u0440 th\u0430t now includes n\u0430mes like C\u0430m Heyw\u0430rd, Kee\u0430nu Benton, Montr\u0430vius \u0430d\u0430ms, DeM\u0430rvin Le\u0430l, De\u0430n Lowry \u0430nd Log\u0430n Lee.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\u0440ITTSBURGH &#8212; The \u0440ittsburgh Steelers \u0430re \u0430dding to the defensive line, signing former New engl\u0430nd \u0440\u0430triots big m\u0430n D\u0430niel eku\u0430le, his \u0430gent Bl\u0430ke B\u0430r\u0430tz \u0430nnounced on soci\u0430l&#8230; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":33762,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-33761","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nfl"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>BREAKING: Steelers sign former P\u0430triots DT D\u0430niel Eku\u0430le in free \u0430gency \ud83d\udd25 - 24\/7 News America<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=33761\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"BREAKING: Steelers sign former P\u0430triots DT D\u0430niel Eku\u0430le in free \u0430gency \ud83d\udd25 - 24\/7 News America\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"\u0440ITTSBURGH &#8212; 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