Turns out the lack of experience on their offensive line (backups I'm looking in your direction) likely scared the Steelers enough to re-sign starting center Justin Hartwig to a 4-year extension. It was thought the team was finished signing their pending free agents when they re-upped with Brett Keisel, but think again. Here is the official release from the team:
The Steelers signed starting center Justin Hartwig to a new four-year deal through 2012, the team announced today. Financial terms of the deal were not released.
Hartwig, who is in his eighth year in the NFL and second with the Steelers, started all 16 regular-season games and every postseason contest in 2008. He has started 79 games in his career, which included previous stints with the Tennessee Titans and Carolina Panthers.
Hartwig was initially drafted by the Titans in the sixth round (187th overall) of the 2002 NFL Draft out of Kansas. He signed with Pittsburgh as a free agent on March 25, 2008.
!-- External, e.g. Omniture, tracking script -->