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Pittsburgh Steelers News & Rumors

Steelers Sign Devlin Hodges To P-Squad

September 7th, 2020 at 6:16pm CST by Zachary Links

Devlin Hodges wasn’t gone for long. After waiving the quarterback over the weekend, the Steelers inked him to a practice squad deal on Monday, per a club announcement. With Duck under contract, and running back Wendell Smallwood on the way, the Steelers have their initial taxi squad in place. Here’s the full rundown: 

The Steelers were set to roll with Hodges as their QB3, up until they claimed Josh Dobbs off waivers from the Jaguars. Last year, Hodges went from an unheralded UDFA on the practice squad to a fill-in starter after Ben Roethlisberger went down. He wasn’t able to keep his momentum after a hot start, but coaches still like him as an emergency option.

Smallwood was one of the Eagles’ main running backs in 2018, but didn’t much action with Washington in 2019. In 15 games, he registered 22 carries for 81 yards, good for a 3.7 yards per tote average.

Steelers, Cam Heyward Agree To $71MM+ Extension

September 7th, 2020 at 9:23am CST by Zachary Links

The Steelers and defensive lineman Cameron Heyward have struck agreement on a four-year extension that will pay $71.4MM in total, sources tell ESPN.com’s Jeremy Fowler (on Twitter). Heyward had one year to go on his previous deal, so the new add-on will take him through the 2024 campaign.

[RELATED: Steelers Open To Ben Roethlisberger Extension Beyond 2021]

Between the expected 2021 cap decrease and rising salary expectations for Heyward, there was doubt as to whether the Steelers would be able to retain their defensive captain. Ultimately, the whispers of “Aaron Donald-money” were far-fetched, but Heyward still managed to score nearly $18MM per year on average, giving him the most lucrative contract of any defensive player over the age of 30 in NFL history.

Heyward, who turned 31 in May, didn’t exactly play hard-to-get. All along, he’s made it clear that he wants to continue to star on the Steelers D-Line for years to come. He’s now set to enter his tenth season with Pittsburgh, fresh off of his third consecutive Pro Bowl and second career First-Team All-Pro nod. In 2019, Heyward notched nine sacks, bringing his career tally to 54. The advanced metrics were predictably fond of his work — Pro Football Focus ranked him as the NFL’s second-best interior defender, behind only Rams superstar Aaron Donald.

The deal marks a well-deserved step up in salary for Heyward. His previous six-year deal paid him just over $59MM in total, averaging out to less than $10MM per season.

Saints Sign Anthony Chickillo, Margus Hunt To Practice Squad

September 6th, 2020 at 4:04pm CST by Sam Robinson

Two of the Saints’ most notable Saturday cuts will stay with the team. Both Anthony Chickillo and Margus Hunt opted to stay with New Orleans, joining the practice squad Sunday.

The Saints signed Chickillo, a five-year Steelers linebacker, and Hunt — a former first-round defensive lineman whom the Colts cut earlier this year — earlier this year. Each will represent a veteran slot on the Saints’ P-squad.

Teams are permitted, thanks to the COVID-19-altered rules, to carry six veterans of unlimited service time on their taxi squads this year. Here is New Orleans’ full squad:

Steelers Sign S Sean Davis, Claim QB Josh Dobbs, Cut QB Devlin Hodges

September 6th, 2020 at 12:21pm CST by Andrew Ortenberg

The Steelers are bringing back a couple of familiar faces. Pittsburgh is signing safety Sean Davis and they’ve claimed quarterback Josh Dobbs off waivers from the Jaguars, Adam Schefter of ESPN.com reports (Twitter links).

In order to make room for Dobbs, the team has cut fellow quarterback Devlin Hodges. The Steelers drafted Davis in the second round in 2016, and he spent his first four years in Pittsburgh. He started 31 games between 2017-18, but missed almost all of last season due to injury. He signed a one-year deal worth $5MM with Washington this offseason, but couldn’t make it out of camp.

During these uncertain times, teams are clearly placing an emphasis on familiarity and system knowledge. Davis played closer to the line of scrimmage his first couple of pro seasons, but moved to free safety in 2018. The Steelers drafted Dobbs in the fourth-round in 2017, but he became expendable when they drafted Mason Rudolph the following year and they ended up trading him to Jacksonville.

Dobbs lost the battle in Jacksonville to be Gardner Minshew‘s backup, which is how he ended up on waivers. Ben Roethlisberger is coming off a season-ending elbow injury, and Pittsburgh apparently wants all the insurance they can get behind him.

Hodges was an incredible story last year, as the unheralded UDFA from Samford was promoted from the practice squad after Big Ben went down and ended up starting games. Hodges ended up starting six games, becoming a fan favorite in the process. He declined sharply as more tape on him became available, but he’ll still probably end up on Pittsburgh’s or someone else’s practice squad.

Colts Place DE Kemoko Turay On PUP List, Cut Roster To 53

September 5th, 2020 at 4:13pm CST by Sam Robinson

Here are the players the Colts cut to slash their roster down to 53 players Saturday:

Waived:

Released:

Placed on reserve/PUP list:

Turay’s PUP placement will shelve him for at least the season’s first six games. It is a concerning sign for the former second-round pick, who suffered a broken ankle last October. The Colts were counting on him to play a key edge-rushing role, potentially as the counterpart to starter Justin Houston. The team has not been connected to Jadeveon Clowney since March and also avoided investments in other available pass rushers this offseason.

Kelly spent time on Indianapolis’ practice squad last year and could well end up there again. The Colts recently signed Hunt, a former Seahawks backup/spot starter, and added Grimble this offseason. Both Grimble and his ex-Steelers teammate, Roosevelt Nix, failed to make the Colts’ roster. However, despite the players’ extensive experience, each could be placed on Indianapolis’ 16-man practice squad this year. Teams are permitted to carry six practice squad players with unlimited experience.

Steelers Trim Roster Down

September 5th, 2020 at 4:06pm CST by Andrew Ortenberg

The entire AFC North is now finished as the Steelers became the latest team to trim their roster to 53 players. Here are all the moves, we’ll recap the most notable ones at the bottom:

Lynch is probably the most well known of these names. The former Broncos first-round bust signed with the Steelers last year as insurance after multiple quarterback injuries. He’s running out of chances. Switzer has mostly contributed as a returner with Pittsburgh and Dallas, although he did have 36 catches with the Steelers in 2018.

Smallwood was one of the Eagles’ main running backs in 2018, but didn’t get too many touches with Washington last year. He’ll likely pop up somewhere else soon. Brooks Jr. was the Steelers’ sixth-round pick in this past draft, so he’s likely ticketed for the practice squad if he clears waivers.

McCullers has been with the Steelers the past six years so his is a significant departure even though the nose tackle only played 12 percent of the defensive snaps last season.

 

Contract Re-Workings: Bucs, Evans, 49ers, Ford, Steelers, DeCastro, Seahawks, Moore

September 5th, 2020 at 11:43am CST by Andrew Ortenberg

On this busy Saturday morning we’ve got a few contract re-workings to pass along. A few teams, all franchises hoping to compete for a championship this year, are freeing up some cap space, possibly to pursue some of the veterans left on the market:

  • Mike Evans, WR (Buccaneers): Tampa freed up $9.5MM by converting some of Evans’ salary into a signing bonus, Field Yates of ESPN.com tweets. The Bucs are loading up for their potential Tom Brady title run, having just signed Leonard Fournette earlier this week, and it’s possible they aren’t done yet. Evans is under contract through the 2023 season.
  • Dee Ford, DE (49ers): San Francisco also created $9.5MM in space by doing the same thing with Ford, Yates notes in the same tweet. Ford was a disappointment in his first year with the 49ers in 2019 as he battled various health issues that limited him to 11 games, and the organization reportedly shopped him before the draft. He’s signed through the 2023 season as well, although there are outs earlier. He’s also reportedly dealing with a relatively minor calf issue at the moment.
  • David DeCastro, OL (Steelers): Pittsburgh created $3.85MM with the signing bonus trick with DeCastro, Yates notes. The veteran guard has two years left on his five-year, $50MM pact.
  • David Moore, WR (Seahawks): Moore has reworked his deal to stay in Seattle, Ian Rapoport of NFL Network tweets. This one sounds like more of a pay cut in order to keep his roster spot rather than the vets above who just had salary converted to signing bonuses. Rapoport notes that Moore had been set to make $2.13MM under his RFA tender, and he presumably took less than that to make the 53. He had 17 receptions for 301 yards and two touchdowns last year.

North Notes: Bears, Packers, Tomlin, Browns

September 4th, 2020 at 7:07pm CST by Sam Robinson

The Bears became the latest team to work out Jamon Brown, with SI.com’s Albert Breer tweeting the guard was in Chicago for an audition. The free agent guard, a Falcons cut last month, has already worked out for the 49ers. Brown was a full-time Rams starter in 2017, but a 2018 suspension derailed his momentum. The Rams waived him shortly after he returned from that ban, but he ended the ’18 season as a Giants first-stringer. The Bears are returning four starters from last season and have been trying ex-Seahawks right tackle Germain Ifedi at guard.

Here is the latest from the North divisions:

  • The Steelers will let Mike Tomlin enter a contract year. Signed through 2021, Tomlin will not be extended this year, Art Rooney II said (via The Athletic’s Ed Bouchette, subscription required). The Steelers gave Tomlin his most recent extension last July, and he managed an eight-win season despite the largely Ben Roethlisberger-less Steelers ranking 32nd in offensive DVOA. Rooney said he plans to address the contracts of Tomlin and GM Kevin Colbert, who just signed a one-year extension, in 2021.
  • One of the league’s healthiest teams last season, the Packers may be down a starter in Week 1. Billy Turner suffered a knee injury during a scrimmage and is uncertain for Green Bay’s opener, Rob Demovsky of ESPN.com notes. Turner played guard for the Packers last season but is competing with free agency addition Ricky Wagner at right tackle this year. Lane Taylor, who missed all of last season, is expected to play right guard opposite emerging talent Elgton Jenkins on the left side.
  • For the second time in three weeks, the Browns brought in Cody Parkey for a visit. The veteran was part of a kicker group to work out for the Browns in August, though it was reported at the time the team was organizing a COVID-related emergency kicker list. Parkey briefly kicked for the Titans last season.
  • Bears training camp coaching intern Henry Burris will stay on the team’s staff all season, Matt Nagy announced. Known mostly for his 17-season CFL run, Burris also was a Bears quarterback for a short time in the early 2000s. This will be his first NFL coaching gig.
  • Vikings linebacker Cameron Smith underwent successful open-heart surgery recently, according to the Associated Press. Mike Zimmer said the second-year defender, who landed on Minnesota’s IR list, will remain in Philadelphia for the foreseeable future to recover.

Steelers Open To Ben Roethlisberger Extension Beyond 2021

September 3rd, 2020 at 3:38pm CST by Sam Robinson

Ben Roethlisberger is entering a pivotal season. Should he stay healthy, the Steelers may be a Super Bowl contender. But the 38-year-old quarterback is attempting to return from a serious elbow injury. This setback followed numerous less severe maladies over the course of his career.

But the Steelers have committed to their future Hall of Famer, not drafting a true heir apparent nor bringing in a higher-caliber backup this offseason. Unlike the other teams who drafted star quarterbacks in the early and mid-2000s, they have not unveiled a new long-term plan. And they are open to pushing this one beyond Roethlisberger’s current contract expiration.

Steelers owner Art Rooney II said he is open to another Roethlisberger extension, one that would take him into his age-40 season. Big Ben’s latest re-up — a two-year, $68MM deal agreed to in 2019 — runs through 2021. Roethlisberger is already the longest-tenured player in Steelers history.

“Obviously after the season we’ll evaluate his contract situation along with other contract decisions we have to make,’’ Rooney said, via Ed Bouchette of The Athletic (subscription required). “But if Ben feels like playing longer and it looks like he’s capable of doing it, certainly that would be a great scenario.”

These comments contradict what GM Kevin Colbert said at the time of the extension. He called the 2019 contract likely Roethlisberger’s last. Roethlisberger hinted at retirement for a time, but after the Steelers moved on from OC Todd Haley, he changed his tune. Colbert also backtracked a bit from his comments about his Roethlisberger plan and may be open to his quarterback joining Tom Brady and Drew Brees in playing past 40.

The Steelers already restructured Big Ben’s deal this year, bumping his 2021 cap hit to an untenable $41.3MM. A fifth Roethlisberger contract could reduce that number, though the 17th-year passer will certainly need to show he has recovered from the elbow injury this season for the parties to discuss another pact.

Minor NFL Transactions: 8/30/20

August 30th, 2020 at 11:41am CST by Rory Parks

We’ll keep track of today’s minor moves right here:

Cleveland Browns

  • Waived: WR D.J. Montgomery
  • Waived with failed physical designation: WR Damion Willis
  • Waived off IR: C Casey Dunn

Pittsburgh Steelers

Seattle Seahawks

  • Waived: DE Eli Mencer
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