90 in 30: Steelers 2024 training camp preview series – Matthew Wright, Tyler Matakevich

The Pittsburgh Steelers’ 2024 offseason workouts ended in mid-June. Next up is the team’s annual training camp, which begins at Saint Vincent College in Latrobe in late July. Leading up to the Steelers’ training camp, we’ll be doing a series of posts looking at the team’s offseason roster, three players at a time. This Steelers roster preview, which also includes projections for each player, will be sorted alphabetically by last name for easy followability. This series is expected to include more than 90 players this year, as the team will be able to bring 91 total players with them during the offseason due to the team’s international designation being allowed.

The last players we’ll feature before the Steelers’ 2024 training camp are Matthew Wright and Tyler Matakevich.

K Matthew Wright: The Steelers signed Wright in April to a one-year contract, which is the minimum salary for a player with three seasons of eligibility. The base amount of his contract is $1.055 million, and he did not receive a signing bonus, so the contract contains no guaranteed money.

Wright has been a member of the Steelers several times throughout his career, with his most recent engagement coming in 2022 when he was asked to fill in for the then-injured Chris Boswell in several games.

Following the 2019 NFL Draft, Wright originally signed with the Steelers as an undrafted free agent out of Central Florida. In addition to his multiple stints with the Steelers over the past few years, Wright has also spent time with the Detroit Lions, Jacksonville Jaguars, Kansas City Chiefs, San Francisco 49ers, Atlanta Falcons, New England Patriots and Carolina Panthers.

In his NFL career so far, Matthew Wright has completed 40 of 47 field goal attempts and 35 of 37 extra point attempts. His career-high is 59 yards and he has completed 6 of 9 attempts of 50 yards or more.

Outlook: The Steelers signed Wright to provide additional power to the team in the offseason. He has filled that role before as a member of the Steelers, and assuming he stays on the roster throughout the preseason, we should see him in action in some of these games.

There is no reason to believe Wright will threaten Boswell for his job. Unless Bowell gets injured, Wright should ultimately be released before the start of the 2024 regular season.

Wright is obviously very popular with the Steelers, and if a kicker is needed for any reason during the regular season, he will likely be the first person they call, unless he is under contract with another team.

ILB Tyler Matakevich: The Steelers signed Matakevich to a one-year, veteran-minimum deal in mid-July. Originally selected by the Steelers in the seventh round of the 2016 NFL Draft out of Temple, Matakevich played out his rookie contract in Pittsburgh.

In 2020, Matakevich left the Steelers and joined the Buffalo Bills as an unrestricted free agent. He initially signed a two-year, $7.15 million contract with the Bills. In March 2021, Matakevich agreed to a one-year contract extension with the Bills. In March 2023, Matakevich signed a one-year, $2.5 million contract with the Bills.

Matakevich has been used primarily as a special teams player throughout his NFL career, appearing in 129 regular season games in his first eight NFL seasons. He has recorded 132 total tackles, most of them on special teams. He has also recorded one interception and four passes defensed in his NFL career.

In total, Matakevich played 283 defensive snaps during the regular season and another 2,564 on special teams. He turns 32 in December.

Outlook: Matakevich has been in the NFL for eight seasons thanks to his solid performance on special teams. While he can and has played inside linebacker throughout his NFL career, it usually only happens in emergency situations and especially in the last few seasons.

The Steelers are expected to have five inside linebackers on their 53-man roster when the 2024 regular season begins. Some of those spots are apparently already taken: Patrick Queen, Elandon Roberts, Cole Holcomb and rookie Payton Wilson, a third-round pick this year. However, Holcomb is recovering from a knee injury suffered in 2023, so it will be important to see how healthy he is when training camp begins.

Matakevich will have more than a shot at the fifth inside linebacker spot in the rankings, assuming that many are ultimately retained. His competition in training camp and the preseason will likely be third-year ILB Mark Robinson and rookie ILB Jacoby Windmon, who was undrafted and is a free agent. However, Matakevich is a much better special teams player than those two.

When the dust settles after the preseason, Matakevich could go either way. Still, if he stays healthy, he will be tough to beat, especially given his ability on special teams.

Previous posts in this series:

90 in 30: Steelers 2024 training camp preview series – Montravius ​​Adams, Kyle Allen, Spencer Anderson
90 in 30: Steelers 2024 training camp preview – Grayland Arnold, Calvin Austin III, Anthony Averett
90 in 30: Steelers 2024 training camp preview – Kalon Barnes, Tyler Beach, Keeanu Benton
90 in 30: Steelers 2024 training camp preview – Beanie Bishop Jr., Chris Boswell, Marquez Callaway
90 in 30: Steelers 2024 training camp preview – Jack Colletto, Dylan Cook, Jacob Copeland
90 in 30: Steelers 2024 training camp preview series – James Daniels, Daijun Edwards, DeShon Elliott
90 in 30: Steelers 2024 training camp preview – Jalen Elliott, Troy Fautanu, Breiden Fehoko
90 in 30: Steelers 2024 training camp preview – Justin Fields, Joey Fisher, Dez Fitzpatrick
90 in 30: Steelers 2024 training camp preview – Minkah Fitzpatrick, Zach Frazier, Pat Freiermuth
90 in 30: Steelers 2024 training camp preview – Thomas Graham Jr., Devery Hamilton, Anderson Hardy
90 in 30: Steelers 2024 training camp preview series – Najee Harris, Nate Herbig, Nick Herbig
90 in 30: Steelers 2024 training camp preview – Cameron Heyward, Connor Heyward, Alex Highsmith
90 in 30: Steelers 2024 training camp preview – Cole Holcomb, Donte Jackson, Van Jefferson
90 in 30: Steelers 2024 training camp preview – Jaray Jenkins, Kyron Johnson, Cameron Johnston
90 in 30: Steelers 2024 training camp preview – Broderick Jones, Damontae Kazee, Miles Killebrew
90 in 30: Steelers 2024 training camp preview – Christian Kuntz, DeMarvin Leal, Logan Lee
90 in 30: Steelers 2024 training camp preview series – Isaiahh Loudermilk, Dean Lowry, Jonathan Marshall
90 in 30: Steelers 2024 training camp preview – Ryan McCollum, Mason McCormick, Nate Meadors
90 in 30: Steelers 2024 training camp preview series – Scotty Miller, Jeremiah Moon, Dan Moore Jr.
90 in 30: Steelers 2024 training camp preview – Tyler Murray, Larry Ogunjobi, Cordarrelle Patterson
90 in 30: Steelers 2024 training camp preview – David Perales, La’Mical Perine, George Pickens
90 in 30: Steelers 2024 training camp preview – Joey Porter Jr., Willington Previlon, MyCole Pruitt
90 in 30: Steelers 2024 training camp preview series – Patrick Queen, John Rhys Plumlee, Elandon Roberts
90 in 30: Steelers 2024 training camp preview – Mark Robinson, Darius Rush, Josiah Scott
90 in 30: Steelers 2024 training camp preview – Isaac Seumalo, Aaron Shampklin, Jacob Slade
90 in 30: Steelers 2024 training camp preview – Cameron Sutton, Cory Trice Jr., Jonathan Ward
90 in 30: Steelers 2024 training camp preview – Jaylen Warren, Darnell Washington, Quez Watkins
90 in 30: Steelers 2024 training camp preview series – TJ Watt, Duece Watts, Ryan Watts
90 in 30: Steelers 2024 training camp preview – Julius Welschof, Rodney Williams, Payton Wilson
90 in 30: Steelers 2024 training camp preview – Roman Wilson, Russell Wilson, Jacoby Windmon