Steelers Waive Hagen, Sigler, White
- 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.
Steelers Place Ladarius Green On PUP
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.
Steelers Still Considering Keenan Lewis
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.
Marcus Gilbert Has Hyperextended Elbow
- 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.
Steelers Trim Roster To 79
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.
Steelers Notes: Brown, Williams
Agent Drew Rosenhaus, in New Orleans as the Steelers prepared for tonight’s preseason game against the Saints, discussed wide receiver Antonio Brown‘s contract with Pittsburgh general manager Kevin Colbert, tweets Ed Bouchette of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Brown, who has two years left on his deal, has been requesting a new contract for some time, but the Steelers have been insistent that they won’t negotiate right now. Universally considered an elite pass-catcher, Brown is ranked 18th among wide receivers in terms of average annual compensation ($8.4MM/year).
- Linebacker Vince Williams‘ new deal with the Steelers calls for him to earn $5MM in new money over the three-year span, Jeremy Fowler of ESPN.com tweets. His 2016 salary of $675K remains the same but he also gets a $1.5MM signing bonus with a $2MM salary in 2017 and 2018.
Latest On Harrison, Matthews, Peppers
This week, the NFL interviewed Packers linebackers Clay Matthews and Julius Peppers and Steelers linebacker James Harrison with regards to the allegations raised in the infamous Al Jazeera documentary. During those interviews, the league did not raise any new evidence or allegations, a source close to the situation tells Dan Graziano of ESPN.com. 
After weeks of will they/won’t they talk, the three players consented to interviews with the league office under threat of suspension. Peyton Manning was the first player of the bunch to agree to an interview and free agent Mike Neal stands as the last straggler.
If the league has no further proof of anything tying these players to the Guyer Institute, then a statement clearing all three of them could be forthcoming.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Steelers’ Marcus Gilbert Restructures Deal
Steelers right tackle Marcus Gilbert has restructured his contract to help give the team additional cap room. Gilbert’s salary for 2016 will dip from $3.95MM to $760K, as ESPN.com’s Jeremy Fowler tweets. Gilbert will likely get the leftover money in an alternate form, such as a signing bonus conversion. 
Gilbert’s concession actually marks the second time he has restructured his deal to help the team. Gilbert agreed to adjust his deal in February of 2015 shortly after inking his five-year, $30MM contract extension in August of 2014.
Last year, Gilbert was ranked as the 28th best offensive tackle in the NFL out of 77 qualified players, according to the advanced metrics at Pro Football Focus. The 6’6″, 329 pound lineman started in all 16 regular season games for Pittsburgh.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Steelers To Pass On Keenan Lewis?
On Wednesday, Keenan Lewis visited the Steelers and even took a tour through their locker room. Still, it doesn’t sound like we should expect Pittsburgh to sign the veteran cornerback. The Steelers did not like what they saw with regards to Lewis’ hip, Gerry Dulac of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette tweets. Lewis’ troublesome hip limited him to just six games in 2015. 
[RELATED: NFL To Interview James Harrison Today]
This week, a former teammate told one reporter that Lewis is still recovering from his hip injury and needs another six weeks before he can play football again. Apparently, Steelers coaches and medical personnel arrived at the same conclusion.
While the Steelers apparently have some reservations about inking Lewis, other clubs may be willing to sign him and give him the necessary time to get back to full health. In addition to the Steelers, the Lions, Jets, Cardinals, and an unidentified NFC South team have expressed interest in Lewis.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Keenan Lewis Still Injured?
Cornerback Keenan Lewis is drawing interest from several teams, but he might not be ready to help any of them in the first month of the season. A former teammate of the free agent claims that Lewis says he is still hurt and needs another six weeks to recover, Chris Adamski of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review tweets. 
Lewis is currently in the midst of his Steelers visit and walked through the Pittsburgh locker room on Wednesday morning. In July, the veteran insisted that he would be ready for the season opener. At this point, that seems to be in question and former coach Sean Payton implied that Lewis’ health was a main factor in his release.
“He’s 52 weeks post-surgery…Just availability, ultimately. We wish him well,” Payton said. “I think ultimately, it was just trying to get him on the field. It’s just been, it seems like, a long time.”
So far, we know that the Steelers, Lions, Jets, Cardinals and an unidentified NFC South team have expressed interest in Lewis. It remains to be seen what kind of deal Lewis can fetch if he is out until early/mid-October.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.