- The Steelers released former Virginia Tech offensive lineman Wade Hansen, agent Brett Tessler tweets, and waived quarterback Dustin Vaughan with an injury settlement (Twitter link via Mark Kaboly of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review).
Karlos Williams‘ redemption tour recently stopped in Pittsburgh. The second-year running back worked out for the Steelers, Adam Schefter of ESPN.com reports, in addition to his Jets visit.
Williams, who went unclaimed on waivers, made his first post-cut stop to meet with the Jets, with whom he met with the franchise’s top decision-making personnel.
The Bills cut the embattled running back despite a standout rookie season supplementing LeSean McCoy off the bench and in the starting lineup when the starter missed time. Williams averaged 5.6 yards per carry while rushing for 517 yards and scoring nine total touchdowns as a rookie. Buffalo, though, lost patience with him after the league penalized him four games for substance-abuse issues and Williams struggled with his weight.
Schefter, who reported Williams’ weight ballooned to over 260 pounds this offseason, added the former fifth-round pick is working his way back into shape. He remains suspended for four games, so the Steelers wouldn’t be able to use the 23-year-old ball-carrier early in the season behind DeAngelo Williams were they to sign him.
Le’Veon Bell will miss the first three games of the season, and behind Williams Pittsburgh employs Fitzgerald Toussaint and former Ram Daryl Richardson. So, while the Steelers could use some help in the short-term, they’d only be getting Karlos Williams after Bell’s suspension concludes.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
4:16pm: The Steelers announced they placed Bruce Gradkowski on IR to clear a roster spot for Mettenberger. Gradkowski re-signed with Pittsburgh in May on a one-year, $965K deal with $80K guaranteed. The 33-year-old passer spent last season on IR as well, with a thumb injur
y derailing his season. This time, a torn hamstring will end his season early.
3:25pm: Zach Mettenberger is now with his third team of the 2016 offseason. The Steelers have claimed the quarterback off waivers from the Chargers, Jason La Canfora of CBSSports.com tweets.
Mettenberger now joins Landry Jones and Bryn Renner on the depth chart behind Ben Roethlisberger. It’s possible that the Steelers are looking at Mettenberger as a third-string option instead of Renner, a player who could probably be snuck through waivers and stashed on the taxi squad.
The 24-year-old was a sixth-round pick of the Titans in the 2014 draft. In his rookie season, Mettenberger saw time in seven games (six starts) and threw for eight touchdowns with seven interceptions. Early on this offseason, the Chargers claimed Mettenberger off waivers from the Titans. Days ago, the Bolts dropped him as they trimmed down to a 75-man roster.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
The NFL has cleared James Harrison, Clay Matthews, and Julius Peppers in the PED probe, a source tells Tom Pelissero of USA Today (on Twitter). There was “no credible evidence” found in the league’s investigation or interviews. 
Late last year, a documentary from Al- Jazeera America linked Harrison, Matthews, Peppers, Peyton Manning, and Mike Neal to a pharmaceutical company in Indiana where Charles Sly claimed that he supplied athletes with performance enhancing drugs. Since then, the NFL has been investigating the five players named and recently began the process of interviewing them.
Manning immediately consented, but the other players were opposed to the interviews and fought back per the advise of the NFLPA. Eventually, Harrison, Matthews, Peppers, and Neal (after some additional deliberation) agreed to do the interviews. Roughly one week later, the first three have been cleared by the league office while there is no word just yet on Neal.
The Steelers and Antonio Brown on the verge of agreeing to a restructuring of his contract, a source tells Adam Schefter of ESPN.com (on Twitter). That deal is expected to be completed shortly. Brown was due $6.25MM this year and will now earn ~$10.25MM, a source tells Mike Garafolo of NFL.com (on Twitter). The Steelers are also promising to give Brown a true extension after the 2016 season (link).
Brown has two years left to go on his current deal and has been pushing for an extension. The Steelers, meanwhile, have been insistent that they won’t negotiate right now. Brown did not get the big pay bump he truly wanted, but he did get a small concession to keep him happy over the next year. The Steelers, citing team policy, have told Brown that they will not start discussing a new deal with him until he is one year away from free agency.
Brown is considered to be one of the very best wide receivers in the NFL. However, because of the team friendly deal he signed years ago, he is ranked 18th among wide receivers in terms of average annual compensation ($8.4MM/year). Last year, Brown tied for the league lead in receptions (136), finished second in yards (1,834), and scored ten touchdowns.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
- The Steelers have moved their roster to 75 men by waiving safety Jacob Hagen, defensive tackle Devaunte Sigler and cornerback Kevin White, the club announced.
Ladarius Green has been placed on the PUP list by the Steelers, according to a team announcement. He will be ineligible to practice with the team or join the active roster until after Week 6.
Green was intended to give the Steelers a major offensive weapon at tight end. Instead, it sounds like the Steelers will have to wait a while before they see their free agent splash take the field. Early on this offseason, Green was sidelined as his surgically-repaired ankle healed up. His absence dragged on into August and it was later reported that the tight end has been dealing with crippling headaches. That’s a big deal for Green who has a history with concussions.
Depending on who you ask, Green may or may not be considering retirement as a result. Both the Steelers and Green have denied reports of his headaches, but today’s news more or less confirms it.
The Steelers are still considering free agent cornerback Keenan Lewis, but it will take him at least a month to recover from hip and groin injuries, according to Jeremy Fowler of ESPN.com (Twitter link). That news jibes with at least one report earlier this month that indicated Lewis would need as much as six weeks to heal from his ailments. However, Gerry Dulac of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette recently reported that the Steelers were troubled by the medicals on Lewis’ hip when he visited the team recently.
- An MRI has revealed that Steelers right tackle Marcus Gilbert is dealing with a “significant” hyperextended elbow, writes Jeremy Fowler of ESPN.com. Gilbert, however, vowed that he won’t miss any action, telling Fowler that he’ll play in the regular season opener “no matter what.” Just last week, the 28-year-old offensive lineman agreed to restructure his contract and give Pittsburgh some financial breathing room.
The Steelers have placed rookie OT Jerald Hawkins on the reserved/injured list and have waived/injured quarterback Dustin Vaughan, as Ray Fittipaldo of The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports. Per Fittipaldo, the club has also cut the following players:
- LB Jordan Zumwalt
- LB Mike Reilly
- WR Levi Norwood
- WR Isaac Blakeney
- TE Michael Cooper
- DE Giorgio Newberry
- DT K.K. Mosley-Smith
- CB Julian Whigham
Zumwalt, the Steelers‘ sixth-round pick in 2014, spent the 2014 and 2015 seasons on injured reserve with a hip injury, and the hip surgery that ended his 2015 campaign before it started took over five hours to complete and included a brutal recovery/rehabilitation period. Zumwalt had been working exclusively at inside linebacker in offseason workouts, but he did not do enough to survive the first round of cuts.
The Steelers now have79 players on their roster and must get down to 75 by Tuesday at 4pm.