The Pittsburgh Steelers have signed defensive tackle Daniel Ekuale to a one-year contract. Ekuale, who has played in the NFL for seven seasons, has appeared in 57 games and started 21 of them. His career statistics include 91 tackles, with 49 solo stops, eight tackles for loss, six sacks, nine quarterback hits, one pass defense, and a forced fumble.
Ekuale spent the last four seasons with the New England Patriots after joining their practice squad at the beginning of the 2021 season. While with the Patriots, he participated in 41 games and started in 16. During his tenure there, he accumulated 74 tackles (40 solo), five sacks, six tackles for loss, eight quarterback hits, one pass defense, and one forced fumble.
His most productive season was in 2024 when he started all 16 games and made 52 tackles (24 solo), three quarterback hits, two tackles for loss, and a sack.
Before his time with the Patriots, Ekuale played for the Jacksonville Jaguars during the 2020 season. In nine games with five starts for Jacksonville, he registered 13 tackles (six solo), one sack, one tackle for loss, and a quarterback hit.
Ekuale began his professional career as an undrafted free agent with the Cleveland Browns following the 2018 NFL Draft. He spent two years there; initially on their practice squad before playing seven games in 2019 where he logged four tackles (three solo) and one tackle for loss.
Originally from Pago Pago in American Samoa, Ekuale played college football at Washington State University. Over his college career spanning 51 games with 22 starts, he recorded a total of 71 tackles along with three sacks and two forced fumbles.
