The Pittsburgh Steelers and center Maurkice Pouncey have agreed to a five year extension. Profootballtalk reports the deal is worth just north of $44 million, making Pouncey the games highest paid center. Pouncey receives a $13 million signing bonus.
Pouncey tore his ACL in Week 1 during the 2013 season and has been injured at inopportune times during his Steelers career, missing the Super Bowl vs Green Bay due to injury and a playoff game vs the Denver Broncos in Jan 2012.
Pouncey came onto the scene in a big way as a rookie in 2010, establishing himself as one of the NFL’s premier centers, but some evaluators strongly feel Pouncey has never matched that level of 2010 again.
From a character standpoint, there’s been some question marks with Pouncey as he is a close friend of Aaron Hernandez but that red flag surely doesn’t concern the Steelers. Pouncey and his brother Mike had been looked by investigators during the Hernandez investigations.
Pouncey was made a priority over Ben Roethlisberger and Jason Worilds on the extension front. The Steelers have yet to engage in any substantive talks with Roethlisberger.