Today’s taxi squad moves:
Arizona Cardinals
Green Bay Packers
Indianapolis Colts
Las Vegas Raiders
Pittsburgh Steelers
Seattle Seahawks
Odell Beckham Jr. is expected to debut for the Rams in a matter of hours. But, minutes before he signed with Los Angeles, the Steelers made a late entry into the OBJ sweepstakes, according to NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport. 
[RELATED: Rams Want To Extend OBJ]
However, by that point, the wide receiver had already narrowed down his list. The Chiefs, Packers, Patriots, Seahawks, and Saints were also in the mix, but the Beckham saw the Rams as the best fit.
“It just feels right about the [Rams] offense,” Beckham said. “I hope to find a groove and help this team find ways to win.”
Saints head coach Sean Payton personally tried to court the former LSU standout, but the Saints weren’t sure if he was serious about coming to New Orleans (Twitter link via Jeff Duncan of The Times-Picayune). Like most of the other teams involved, it’s believed that the Saints pitched him on a ~$1MM base salary for 2021, plus incentives. The Packers were something of an exception, according to RapSheet, offering only the veteran’s minimum.
With incentives, Beckham can make up to $3MM on his Rams deal this year. After that, he’ll be eligible for free agency, giving all of his previous suitors another chance to land him. Meanwhile, the Rams are already working to keep him from the open market.
On Saturday evening, the Steelers announced that they were placing quarterback Ben Roethlisberger on the reserve/COVID-19 list. As a result, Roethlisberger will miss the club’s game against the Lions this afternoon.
According to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com, the 39-year-old passer self-reported COVID symptoms to the team and subsequently tested positive for the virus (Twitter link). As Mark Maske of the Washington Post tweets, Roethlisberger is vaccinated, so he is eligible to be removed from the COVID list as soon as he returns two negative tests taken 24 hours apart. That gives him a good chance to suit up for what could be a critical bout with the Chargers next Sunday.
For today, QB2 Mason Rudolph will get the nod in Roethlisberger’s place (Twitter link via Rapoport). Rudolph, a 2018 third-rounder, has not played a significant snap since Week 16 of the 2019 season — he started a meaningless Week 17 game last year — and he boasts a 5-4 career record as a starter, a record that is accompanied by a subpar 82.7 career quarterback rating.
However, if the Steelers could pick a game for Roethlisberger to miss this year, today’s matchup would probably be the one they would pick. The 0-8 Detroit outfit is ranked in the bottom quarter of the league in terms of yards allowed per game, and next-to-last in terms of points allowed per game. Plus, Rudolph does get regular opportunities to run the first-team offense in practice, so Pittsburgh should not need to limit its playbook in any way.
The Steelers have won four in a row to bring themselves squarely into the AFC playoff picture. During that streak, Roethlisberger — whose early-season struggles prompted speculation about his job security — is averaging over 200 passing yards per game, has thrown six TDs, zero interceptions, and has posted a 104.6 QB rating (h/t Aditi Kinkhabwala of the NFL Network on Twitter).
Here are Saturday’s minor moves:
Arizona Cardinals
Carolina Panthers
Cincinnati Bengals
Cleveland Browns
Dallas Cowboys
Denver Broncos
Detroit Lions
Green Bay Packers
Indianapolis Colts
Kansas City Chiefs
Las Vegas Raiders
Minnesota Vikings
New England Patriots
New York Jets
Pittsburgh Steelers
Seattle Seahawks
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Tennessee Titans
Washington Football Team
Today’s practice squad moves:
Carolina Panthers
Denver Broncos
Las Vegas Raiders
Pittsburgh Pirates
San Francisco 49ers
Tennessee Titans
It sounds like Chase Claypool avoided a serious injury. NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport tweets that the Steelers wideout didn’t suffer a season-ending injury and is instead considered week-to-week.
There was some initial fear that Claypool’s foot injury would end up costing him the rest of the 2021 campaign. Fortunately, that won’t be the case, and Rapoport didn’t even definitively say that the receiver will miss time (rather, Claypool may miss time).
Following a standout rookie campaign that saw him haul in nine touchdowns, Claypool has continued his production into this season. Through seven games (six starts), the wideout has hauled in 29 receptions for 433 yards and one touchdown. The 23-year-old has also gotten six carries for 51 yards.
This is especially good news for a Steelers offense that already lost JuJu Smith-Schuster to a season-ending injury. Diontae Johnson, James Washington, and Ray-Ray McCloud will lead the receivers depth chart while Claypool is out.
Today’s practice squad transactions:
Arizona Cardinals
Cleveland Browns
Denver Broncos
Detroit Lions
Houston Texans
Kansas City Chiefs
Miami Dolphins
Minnesota Vikings
New England Patriots
Philadelphia Eagles
Pittsburgh Steelers
The Eagles and Steelers discussed a trade that would have sent Fletcher Cox to Pittsburgh, according to Jason La Canfora of CBSSports.com. However, the Steelers were ultimately warded off by the Eagles’ asking price of a third-round pick. 
Trading Cox would have left Eagles GM Howie Roseman with a sizable dead money hit. However, Kevin Colbert would have been able to fit his contract under the 2021 books, thanks to his recent restructure.
“There were some teams interested in me, and the most important part of it was they wanted me here, and I wanted to be here and I’m happy to be here,” Cox said this past week, via The Athletic.
Cox would have provided an immediate boost to the Steelers, who are without Tyson Alualu and awaiting the return of defensive tackle Stephon Tuitt. The 30-year-old (31 in December) also drew interest from other clubs, JLC hears, so there’s clearly a market for his services. That’s good news for Cox, who might not be in the Birds’ plans for 2022.
Cox, a six-time Pro Bowler, has started in all nine of his games this year, including today’s game against the Chargers. Heading into this afternoon, he’s recorded 12 tackles, and one sack, one fumble recovery, and a defensive touchdown.
We’ll keep track of today’s taxi squad moves here:
Arizona Cardinals
Atlanta Falcons
Buffalo Bills
Carolina Panthers
Chicago Bears
Denver Broncos
Green Bay Packers
Los Angeles Chargers
New York Jets
Pittsburgh Steelers
Washington Football Team
Today’s minor moves:
Atlanta Falcons
Baltimore Ravens
Cleveland Browns
Dallas Cowboys
Detroit Lions
Green Bay Packers
Los Angeles Rams
New York Jets
Pittsburgh Steelers
San Francisco 49ers
Washington Football Team