The Pittsburgh Steelers met informally with Pitt Panthers offensive lineman Matt Goncalves at the 2024 NFL Combine, Goncalves said on Saturday.
A 6-foot-6, 330-pound lineman from Manorville, New York, Goncalves spent five seasons playing for Pitt, practicing right next to the Steelers at the South Side facility the teams share.
Goncalves redshirted in 2019 and after that played a little bit of everywhere as the team’s sixth lineman in 2020, seeing time at left tackle, left guard, right tackle and as a tackle eligible.
He moved into a starting role at right tackle midway through the 2021 season. In 2022, he started at right tackle and then flipped to left side after an injury to Carter Warren.
Entering this past season, Goncalves was expected to be a one of the top tackles in the draft class, but a toe injury that required surgery shut down his senior year after just three games.
As a result, Goncalves’ draft stock has fallen. According to the NFL Mock Draft Database, his current average draft position is 133rd overall, at the very end of the fourth round. He could project to be either a tackle or a guard at the NFL level, and said that some teams have been asking him about doing both.
He said he would love to be able to go back to Pittsburgh and play for the team that he practice alongside for the last five years — along with his college quarterback Kenny Pickett.
“It would be a great honor and experience to go back to Pittsburgh,” he said. “That’s something that people dream of.”
The Steelers will bring back starters Dan Moore Jr. and Broderick Jones at tackle for the 2024 season, but have released backup Chukwuma Okorafor and Moore is entering the final season of his contract, making tackle a priority addition for the team in the 2024 NFL Draft.
