The Pittsburgh Steelers tried out offensive tackle Charlie Heck on Tuesday. Heck is a former fourth-round pick of the Houston Texans out of UNC. He was with the Miami Dolphins this preseason.
Heck is massive, standing at 6-foot-8, 311 pounds. He has played in 67 career games with 29 career starts in his NFL career. Most of his playing time came with Houston, 21 starts in 41 appearances.
The North Carolina product has been with four teams after spending his first four seasons in Houston (2020-23).
Heck was with the Arizona Cardinals and San Francisco 49ers in 2024, Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2025 and the Miami Dolphins this past offseason. Heck was part of Miami's final roster cuts last month.
Heck played all 17 games with six starts in Tampa Bay last season.
Heck is the son of Andy Heck, an All-American and National Champion offensive tackle at Notre Dame. Andy Heck was a first-round pick by the Seattle Seahawks in 1989. He went on to start 164 games during his 12-year NFL career with the Seahawks, Chicago Bears and Washington Redskins .
The Steelers are thin at offensive tackle, so it makes sense that Heck was brought in for a tryout. Steelers rookie Max Iheanachor didn't start in the Steelers' Week 1 win over the Atlanta Falcons , but was momentarily called to action in the fourth quarter when left tackle Troy Fautanu exited the 20-13 win for a play.
Dylan Cook , the starting right tackle, slid to Fautanu's spot, and the No. 21 overall pick in the 2026 NFL Draft stood in for one play — a four-yard pass from Aaron Rodgers to Jaylen Warren .
"(There) definitely was nerves, obviously," Iheanachor said afterward. "He went down and everybody was screaming my f***ing name. I was like, 'Oh, s***.' But, just going out there and trusting the work you put in and not (panicking). Just do a job at the end of the day."
Heck could be an insurance policy for the Steelers in case the team suffers injuries at the tackle position.
Brendan Howe contributed.
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