When earlier this offseason Pittsburgh Steelers defensive line coach John Mitchell explicitly name-dropped defensive end Clifton Geathers as a player that he requested that the front office re-sign, it certainly made the ears perk up.
Geathers was a street free agent when the Steelers signed him with four weeks to go in the regular season, having been cut after signing a deal with the Redskins earlier that year, which was just one of a number of teams that he had played for in his fairly short career by that point.
He spent the five games in which he was on the roster on the inactive list, while the Steelers saw increased contributions—including five starts—from a pair of rookie linemen, which is highly uncommon for Mitchell.