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Steelers sign 'Natural Born Killer' S Isaiah Lewis to futures contract

The Michigan State product drew high, if not overstated, praise from his former position coach after the 2014 NFL Draft.

Richard Mackson-USA TODAY Sports

The Steelers signed safety Isaiah Lewis, an undrafted free agent in 2013, to their offseason roster Tuesday, a move only slightly trumped by the announcement of the hiring of Keith Butler as the team's defensive coordinator.

But Lewis is capable of being the target of some high praise as well.

His former coach, Michigan State secondary coach Harlon Barnett, was surprised Lewis wasn't drafted, and dropped this beauty of a quote on MLive back in May.

There are certain guys I call certain things, and Isaiah is what I call a natural born killer as far as his hitting ability on the football field. He's going to come and hit you all day every day. There's not many of them in the NFL. You get him, you got a football player.

Certainly, Coach Barnett can make himself look better by pumping up his guy with cool nicknames, all the while getting a pass for perhaps overstating the worth of his player. Lewis wasn't drafted and didn't last long with the Bengals, whom he signed with as an undrafted free agent.

Still, it's a great nickname, and if nothing else, an injection of hard-hitters in the secondary can only ramp up competitive fire during training camp.

Assuming he's allowed to hit anyone.