The Pittsburgh Steelers have had many great players over the years that they were not able to make life-long players for the organization. Players that performed so well while on their rookie contracts, and became to expensive for the organization to re-sign. One of those players is the Steelers former defensive tackle, Javon Hargrave, who left Pittsburgh after the 2019 season and went to the Philadelphia Eagles. Hargave's contract expired after the 2022 NFL season, and he was one of the top free agents on the market in 2023. He had many players and teams trying to recruit him.
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Steelers' Cam Heyward interviews former teammate Javon Hargrave
Former Steelers Lineman On Being Recruited By A Rival
On the most recent episode of Cam Heyward's podcast, Not Just Football With Cam Heyward, Hargrave was the featured guest, despite the two playing each other in Week 1 of the 2023 NFL season. The two reminisced on their playing days together and some fond memories they shared in Pittsburgh. They discussed what it was like for Hargrave losing the Super Bowl, and Heyward also asked Hargrave what free agency was like in the 2023 offseason. Hargrave signed a four-year, $84 million deal with the San Francisco 49ers after leaving the Eagles.
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Former Steelers star Javon Hargrave is just one of several defenders that the team will have to slow down in Week 1 against the 49ers.
2023 was the second time Hargrave has experienced free agency in his NFL career. After playing for the Steelers from 2016 through 2019, he was a free agent that chose to sign a three-year $39 million deal with Philadelphia. Although he got a really good deal, he was not one of the top free agents like he would become in 2023. Hargrave spoke about what the feeling was like to be recruited by teams and players, and how he reacted to getting a call from a Steelers' AFC North rival.
"I was a free agent when I went to Philly, so I'm thinking I know what's going on. But I guess this year I was like a top free agent, like no one ever called my phone when I was going to Philly to like recruit me. This year I'm getting calls from players like Trent [Williams] and George Kittle."
Trent Williams and George Kittle are two of the most important players to the 49ers' franchise, so if they are reaching out to you to come play, the organization must want you bad. The 49ers are the team that Hargrave and the Eagles beat in the NFC Championship game to advance to the Super Bowl in 2023, so they saw in that game what a disruptor he could be and realized how valuable he could be to their team.
AP Photo / Matt Slocum
Eagles defensive tackle Javon Hargrave sacks Steelers quarterback Kenny Pickett, Sunday, Oct. 30, 2022, in Philadelphia.
Hargrave went on to speak about teams and players that recruited him in 2023 free agency that he didn't go to, with one of them being the Cleveland Browns. Even stating that some of their "star" players would call or text him to try and get him to join that organization. Thankfully, he chose to go down a different path. He likely would have been booed every time he returned to Pittsburgh to play the Steelers.
"You're not going to like this one, but like Nick Chubb and Deshaun Watson. And it's funny, I think it was the being a Pittsburgh fan back in the day. I just can't be hated like that."
It's bad enough seeing Hargrave in a jersey that isn't black and gold, but seeing him in a Browns jersey would have been horrible. Hargrave was a Steelers fan long before being drafted by the organization in 2016, so hinting at the fact that he knows the rivalry well enough from being a fan and suggesting that is a reason he wouldn't go to the Browns is interesting to think about.
What do you think about Hargrave's comments? Do you think the Steelers will be able to keep him in check come Week 1? Click to comment below!
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