After initially agreeing to terms with the Jacksonville Jaguars, Tyson Alualu won’t be signing with the team after all. Instead, he will be returning to the Pittsburgh Steelers after a unfortunate chain of events happened after his interaction with the Jags.
According to NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero, Alualu couldn’t make the trip to Jacksonville after testing positive for COVID-19. That gave him more time to think about his decision and he decided to return to Pittsburgh, where his family has settled, as a result.
Crazy backstory: Tyson Alualu was going to sign with the #Jaguars, but couldn’t make the trip after testing positive for COVID, per sources. He’d built his dream home in Pittsburgh, has kids in school, and with 10 days to think, he decided to stay. https://t.co/oeVQv9W2ie
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) March 27, 2021
This news now puts the Jags in a situation where they will have to turn to whatever veterans are on the open market, or get some more defensive line help through the draft. Depending on who fans asked, Alualu could’ve started for the Jags despite being 32 years of age as he accumulated a Pro Football Focus grade of 89.6 last season. He started in over half of the Steelers games (11), too, while accumulating 38 combined tackles and two sacks.
Alualu, who was drafted by the Jags in 2010, would’ve not only brought the team a great run defender, but a versatile veteran who could help bring along the Jags’ young defensive lineman like DaVon Hamilton and Doug Costin. However, this shouldn’t put fans in panic mode as they were able to land veterans like Jihad Ward, Malcom Brown, and Roy Robertson-Harris, all of whom have officially signed with the team.
The Jags now will have to re-assess what they will want to do for interior defensive line help. They’ve been frequently mocked Christian Barmore, who is a fit as a 3-4 defensive end (one position Alualu would’ve played) and his name could be one to monitor heavily after Alualu had a change of heart.
