[URL="http://nflfromthesidelines.blogspot.com/2013/04/mclendon-visits-packers.html"]McLendon visits Packers, signs with Steelers[/URL]Restricted free agent nose tackle Steve McLendon visited the Packers on Wednesday, a move that sent shock waves through Pittsburgh's front office, so much so that the Steelers signed him to a three-year contract extension on Thursday.
The Steelers tendered McLendon, who is expected to move into the starting lineup this season, at $1.3 million and had the right to match any offer he might receive as a free agent. But they would have received no compensation if he signed elsewhere and they decline to match.
Instead, the Steelers signed him to a three-year, $7.25 million deal, which is a decent price for a 27-year-old nose tackle with little mileage on him.
The Steelers still list McLendon at 280 pounds, but he's actually about 330.
Even so, he's a different style of nose tackle than Casey Hampton, who remains on the free agent market.
McLendon is more of a gap shooter in the mode of Kemo von Oelhoffen, than he is a rock at the point of attack.
Incidentally, Hampton's agent, Ralph Cindrich, told me on Twitter Wednesday that he expects his client to sign with somebody - possibly New England - once training camp begins.
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