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Steelers Sign Free Agent Wide Receiver Darrius Heyward-Bey

PITTSBURGH (93-7 The FAN) - The Steelers have already been more active in free agency this offseason than we've seen them be in recent years and that continued today as they signed free agent wide receiver Darrius Heyward-Bey to a one-year contract.

The 6-foot-2-inch receiver spent last year with the Indianapolis Colts after being drafted by the Oakland Raiders with the No. 7 overall pick in 2009 and spending the first four years of his career with them.

Heyward-Bey played in 16 games last year with the Colts, where he recorded only 29 catches for 309 yards and one touchdown.  Over his five-year career, Heyward-Bey has 169 catches for 2,380 yards and 12 touchdowns.

Indianapolis Colts Beat Writer Mike Chappell joined Starkey and Mueller to give us an inside report on Heyward-Bey and what he did last year for the Colts.

"He's the nicest guy in the world, he really is...it just didn't work," Chappell told us.  "Indy was supposed to be the resurrection of his career...he just didn't respond."

The biggest concern when it comes to Heyward-Bey is the number of passes he drops, and Chappell talked about just how bad his drops were last year.

"His drops were out in space...He would just have drops and there were a couple at the end that were just embarrassing drops where you're wide open and you look it in and you can almost hear the clank before the ball hit the ground.  We had a running joke here that I got to the point that I never got mad at DHB (Darrius Heyward-Bey) for dropping a ball, I got mad at Andrew Luck for throwing it to him.  I mean you've seen this most of the season, why do you keep throwing to a guy that drops too many balls?"

Mike Chappell

One thing Heyward-Bey is likely best known for is his 40-yard dash time at the NFL combine of 4.25 seconds.

You can see the Steelers official press release here.

Stay tuned to 93-7 The FAN for the latest coverage of the Steelers free agent moves.

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