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Robert Woods

Wednesday NFL Transactions: AFC North

August 27th, 2025 at 5:36pm CST by Sam Robinson

Following the 53-man roster cutdown deadline Tuesday, many teams will make slight tweaks to their rosters. In addition to waiver claims, teams can begin constructing their 16-man practice squads today. These Bengals, Browns, Ravens and Steelers moves are noted below.

Baltimore Ravens

Signed to practice squad:

Cincinnati Bengals

Signed to practice squad:

Reverted to IR:

Cleveland Browns

Claimed:

Waived:

Signed to practice squad:

Pittsburgh Steelers

Signed to practice squad:

Steelers Cut 13 Players, Set Initial 53-Man Roster

August 26th, 2025 at 5:16pm CST by Ben Levine

After slowly reducing their roster count over the past week, the Steelers officially got to their 53-player limit this afternoon. The Steelers announced the following transactions:

Released:

Waived:

Waived/injured:

Placed on IR (designated for return):

The Steelers made a pair of relatively surprising cuts on defense. Beanie Bishop joined the Steelers as a UDFA last year and ended up getting into all 17 games (six starts), compiling 45 tackles, four interceptions, and seven passes defended. If he doesn’t get scooped up by another team, there’s a good chance he lands back on Pittsburgh’s practice squad. The same goes for DeMarvin Leal, who appeared in 28 games for the Steelers since being selected in the third round of the 2022 draft.

On offense, the team terminated the contracts of two notable veterans. Robert Woods was looking to revive his career following two quiet seasons in Houston. The former Rams standout hit new lows in 2024, finishing with career-lows in receptions (20) and receiving yards (203). The team also moved on from former 49ers draft pick Trey Sermon. The running back spent the past two seasons with the Colts, where he collected 431 yards from scrimmage in 31 games.

Steelers To Release WR Robert Woods

August 26th, 2025 at 11:06am CST by Adam La Rose

As expected, Robert Woods is heading to free agency. The veteran wideout is among the Steelers’ Tuesday roster cuts, NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reports.

Last week, it became clear Woods was a candidate to be released. The 33-year-old has found himself buried on the WR depth chart in spite of persistent questions about Pittsburgh’s secondary options at the position. Per Rapoport, a return on the practice squad could be possible in this case.

In any event, Woods intends to continue his career in 2025. A veteran of 12 NFL seasons, he his far removed from his peak Rams seasons. The former second-rounder has seen his production drop for each of the past six campaigns, and he made just 20 scoreless catches last year with the Texans. His Pittsburgh pact came about as part of Woods’ efforts to earn a depth spot on his latest team.

That $2MM contract contained $745K guaranteed, so the Steelers will absorb that figure as a dead money charge. The team will create $1.26MM in cap savings, however. It will be interesting to see if that slight uptick in available funds will be put toward an addition at the receiver spot ahead of Week 1. Calvin Austin and Roman Wilson have been preparing for increased roles as complements to D.K. Metcalf this summer, but Pittsburgh has shown sustained interest in free agent Gabriel Davis.

A report from yesterday indicated the Steelers were among the teams still active in the WR trade market. Woods’ release should not notably alter the team’s plans on that front, so once the dust settles following final roster cuts Pittsburgh could still seek out a new pass-catching option.

Beanie Bishop, Robert Woods On Steelers’ Roster Bubble

August 19th, 2025 at 4:57pm CST by Sam Robinson

Last season, the Steelers turned to a rookie UDFA as their primary slot cornerback. After some notable additions this offseason, Beanie Bishop is not expected to start again. He is also no longer assured of a roster spot.

Steelers DC Teryl Austin said (via the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review’s Chris Adamski) Bishop needs a standout finish to the preseason to “put himself back in the picture.” Being cut before Year 2 would be a quick fall for Bishop, who logged 548 defensive snaps as a rookie.

While Bishop lost his status as a defensive regular during the season’s final month, he logged at least 20 defensive snaps in 13 of Pittsburgh’s 17 games in 2024. Bishop intercepted four passes and broke up seven more as a rookie; Pro Football Focus graded him in the bottom half at the position, ranking the 5-foot-9 cover man 95th at the position.

The Steelers made a blockbuster trade for Jalen Ramsey, unloading Minkah Fitzpatrick to acquire the versatile cover man. They had already added Darius Slay and Brandin Echols. The latter has spent most of his career on the boundary but did log 112 slot snaps in 2023. Ramsey has been one of this era’s top perimeter corners, but he has garnered increased slot usage over the past five years. Ramsey has played at least 169 slot snaps in four of the past five seasons, being regularly used at the Rams’ “star” position. A configuration in which Ramsey plays inside while Slay and Joey Porter Jr. work near the boundary makes sense for the Steelers.

Bishop has primarily lined up with the Steelers’ second-team defense during training camp, Adamski adds. Seventh-round pick Donte Kent also factors into the Steelers’ Bishop decision, with the competition for spots fiercer than it was at this time last year — when Cameron Sutton was facing an eight-game suspension to open the season.

The team also has some decisions to make at wide receiver. The Steelers have faced consistent questions about their post-George Pickens plan opposite D.K. Metcalf, but they have hosted Gabe Davis on two visits now — the second coming today. The team also has Roman Wilson back after a lost rookie season, and The Athletic’s Mike DeFabo notes Scotty Miller — an Arthur Smith charge in Atlanta — has been one of Aaron Rodgers‘ favorite targets during camp. These developments move Robert Woods toward Pittsburgh’s roster bubble, DeFabo adds.

Despite Woods’ accomplishments during a 12-year career, he played deep into the fourth quarter in the Steelers’ second preseason game. The Steelers gave Woods (20 catches, 203 yards last season) a one-year, $2MM deal but only guaranteed him $745K, lessening the dead money blow in the event he is cut by the August 26 deadline.

Calvin Austin is set to reprise his role as a starter, while the team also has Ben Skowronek rostered. Woods, 33, could become a practice squad stash, but it may not be a lock the former Bills, Rams, Titans and Texans wideout plays a 13th season. Conversely, DeFabo adds it would surprise if Miller (five receptions, 69 yards in 2024) did not make the roster.

Steelers To Sign Veteran WR Robert Woods

April 28th, 2025 at 5:00pm CST by Nikhil Mehta

The Steelers are signing wide receiver Robert Woods to a one-year, $2MM deal, per NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, adding some veteran depth to the team’s pass-catching corps.

Woods recently celebrated his 33rd birthday and is entering his 13th NFL season. He is an experienced receiver with 145 career starts and 48.1 yards per game in his career. However, he has not been the same player since suffering a torn ACL during the 2021 season. He averaged 4.6 receptions and 56.6 yards per game before the injury and just 2.5 receptions and 25.1 yards per game in three seasons since.

However, Woods’ special teams’ prowess, toughness as a run-blocker, and versatility to play on the outside or in the slot helped him maintain a role in Tennessee in 2022 and Houston in the past two seasons. Those traits likely endeared him to the Steelers, a run-heavy team that has long appreciated tough wideouts who will mix it up as blockers when lined up in the slot. The Steelers re-signed Ben Skowronek, who has a similar profile, to a two-year deal earlier this offseason. Woods will join Skowronek, D.K. Metcalf, George Pickens, Calvin Austin, and Scotty Miller in Pittsburgh’s receiver room this season.

Woods expressed interest in re-signing with the Texans after the 2024 season ended, but Houston opted to sign Christian Kirk, Braxton Berrios, and Justin Watson before using two Day 2 draft picks on Iowa State wideouts Jayden Higgins and Jaylin Noel. That left Woods as one of several veteran wideouts to remain a free agent through the league’s major signing period. Pittsburgh came calling after the draft, albeit for the lowest single-season compensation in Woods’ career.

Robert Woods Wants To Re-Sign With Texans

February 22nd, 2025 at 6:45pm CST by Adam La Rose

Robert Woods has spent the past two seasons in Houston, seeing his usage rate drop compared to earlier in his career along the way. The pending free agent receiver is not looking for a change of scenery this spring, however.

“Feeling good, kind of getting ready to revamp and go another year again,” Woods said when providing an update on his health and speaking about his future (via KPRC2’s Aaron Wilson). “I had a great time here in Houston, loved being with C.J. [Stroud], a great quarterback, loved our receiver room, our coaches. We’ll see how it goes in free agency.

“You know how free agency is. Whatever is best for me and my family and my football career. If that’s in Houston, however it goes, we’ll look to that.”

Woods’ best campaigns came during his five year run with the Rams (2017-21). That span included the two times the former second-rounder surpassed 1,000 yards, but it ended with a campaign in which he was limited to only nine games. Woods was traded to the Titans during the 2022 offseason, although after one year in Tennessee he was released; that allowed him to join the Texans on a two-year, $15.25MM deal.

Operating as an experienced depth contributor in Houston, the USC product totaled 629 yards and just one touchdown while playing out that pact. Woods logged a 70% snap share in 2023, but this past season he saw his playing time plummet to 37%. Considering Stefon Diggs and, later, Tank Dell suffered ACL tears in 2024, that usage rate is an indication the Texans will not match Woods’ desire to work out a new deal this offseason.

General manager Nick Caserio recently said he is open to re-signing Diggs, while Dell and Nico Collins are on the books for next season and beyond. The team also has the likes of John Metchie, Xavier Hutchinson and Jared Wayne attached to their rookie contracts, so Woods may very well have to look elsewhere if he reaches free agency. Approaching his age-33 season, Woods will not have a strong market in that event, but his remarks make it clear he intends to keep playing in 2025.

Latest On Texans’ WR Corps

July 9th, 2023 at 6:38pm CST by Ely Allen

The Texans’ wide receiving corps was among the league’s worst last season, finishing 26th in combined receptions, 28th in receiving yards, and 28th in receiving touchdowns. Things aren’t looking any easier as the team’s top receivers from 2022, Brandin Cooks and Chris Moore, will find themselves in different uniforms next season. Still, according to DJ Bien-Aime of ESPN, new head coach DeMeco Ryans appears to be fairly comfortable with how the position is currently lined up.

With veteran leader Cooks just up north in Dallas, Houston will be looking for a former division rival to lead their young group. Playing in another room bereft of star talent last year, Robert Woods looked like a shell of his former self in Nashville. Part of that may have had more to do with the scheme and personnel around him, as he still led the Titans in both receptions and receiving yards, but in 17 games, Woods failed to surpass his total from his final year in Los Angeles, when his season ended after only nine games. Still, Woods is not far removed from some of the best football of his career. Just two years ago, a torn ACL prevented Woods from extending a streak of three consecutive seasons with over 900 receiving yards. From 2018-2020, Woods was dominant with the Rams combining for 3,289 receiving yards and 14 receiving touchdowns, even adding 427 yards and four more scores on the ground.

After the experience of Woods, the Texans will rely on the familiarity of third-year wideout Nico Collins. Collins was fourth on the team in receiving last year behind Cooks, Moore, and tight end Jordan Akins despite putting up similar numbers that had him ranked second on the team as a rookie the year prior. The team hopes he can progress past those numbers in Year 3. He doesn’t need to suddenly become a No. 1 receiver with Woods in town, but Houston will want him to surpass his careers-highs last year of 37 receptions, 481 yards, and two touchdowns.

Rounding out the potential starting three is last year’s second-round pick John Metchie III. Metchie is still waiting to make his NFL debut after sitting out his rookie year after being diagnosed with acute promyelocytic leukemia. The young receiver is now over a year and a half removed from his last meaningful snap of football and has worked his way back from a torn ACL, leukemia, and now a hamstring strain in order to play in the NFL.

Beyond those three, the team’s depth fades quickly. Former Cowboys receiver Noah Brown joins the group after a breakout year in Dallas. Brown performed as a No. 2 receiver for Dallas last year, gaining career-highs in receptions (43), receiving yards (555), and touchdowns (3), after combining for 39 catches for 425 yards and no touchdowns in the four years prior.

After Brown, the team’s depth is unproven. Amari Rodgers returns after starting one game in six appearances last year. Two rookies join him as depth pieces in the receivers room. Nathaniel Dell was drafted in the third-round out of Houston. Dell was dominant for the Cougars as an undersized wide receiver, catching a combined 199 passes for 2,727 yards and 29 touchdowns in his final two collegiate seasons. In the sixth-round, the team added Iowa State’s Xavier Hutchinson, who delivered strong performances in all three years as a Cyclone before bringing his best football last year.

“I’m not concerned with where we are with our wide receivers,” Ryans claimed. “I like our group. I like where we are. We have a lot of talented guys and have a lot of different qualities.”

He’s certainly not wrong there. Collins provides the team with a big, 6-foot-4 body and strong hands. Brown and Hutchinson also bring the group ideal body-types for a wide receiver. Woods and Metchie both sit around six-foot and bring completely different playing styles to the offense. Finally, Dell and Rodgers bring explosiveness in smaller packages.

Ryans can certainly back up his claim of confidence in covering the gamut of receiver-types, but experience remains a concern. On paper, the Texans’ wide receiving corps is ready to provide rookie quarterback C.J. Stroud with an assortment of weapons. In reality, the team will need young players to step up into big roles quickly in 2023 if they’re going to prove wrong position rankings from ESPN’s Bill Barnwell and Pro Football Focus’s Trevor Sikkema, both of whom have the team’s group ranked last in the league.

Texans To Sign WR Robert Woods

March 10th, 2023 at 7:30pm CST by Ely Allen

The Texans have jumped on a recently released free agent, signing former Titans wide receiver Robert Woods to strengthen the receivers room prior to the opening of free agency, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL Network. Woods will provide a veteran presence for an offense that seems intent on moving Brandin Cooks.

Woods was traded to the Titans from the Rams around a year ago in exchange for a sixth-round pick in this year’s draft. Woods had been in the best stretch of his career with Los Angeles, providing the Rams with season receiving yard totals of 1,219, 1,134, and 936 from 2018-20, respectively. He was delivering his fourth strong season in a row when he suffered an ACL tear in practice, ending his year.

Despite coming off a serious injury, Woods led the Titans in receiving last year with 53 receptions for 527 yards, partly thanks to an injury to rookie wideout Treylon Burks. It wasn’t his strongest season, but it was an encouraging showing for a player coming so recently off of knee surgery.

Unfortunately for Woods, potential cap savings of over $12MM made it a no brainer for Tennessee to execute his release. Woods has solidly bounced back, trekking across the division to sign a two-year deal reportedly worth $15.25MM. Rapoport’s tweet reports that the deal includes $10MM fully guaranteed and can reach a maximum value of $17MM.

Woods joins a Houston receiving corps that’s expected to lose Cooks, Chris Moore, and Phillip Dorsett, the latter two to free agency. Woods should be the centerpiece of the group, supplemented by third-year receiver Nico Collins and second-year wideout John Metchie, who will be playing his first season of NFL ball after sitting out his rookie year while treating leukemia.

Woods will be hoping to have a similar impact with his fourth-career team as he did in Los Angeles. Whether the Texans move forward with Davis Mills or seek help at quarterback, Woods, now a year removed from his knee injury, should be the perfect complement to a young or new passer.

Titans Cut WR Robert Woods

February 22nd, 2023 at 11:52am CST by Sam Robinson

Ten months after trading for Robert Woods, the Titans will make the veteran wide receiver a cap casualty. Tennessee is releasing Woods on Wednesday, Jordan Schultz of The Score reports (on Twitter).

The Titans will save just more than $12MM by cutting Woods, whom they acquired from the Rams last year. The team made Woods a key part of its post-A.J. Brown plan, but its passing attack struggled throughout the season. Woods, who suffered an ACL tear in November 2021, could not recapture his pre-injury form. Between the Woods and Taylor Lewan releases, the Titans created more than $26MM in cap room Wednesday.

Woods was a constant for the Sean McVay-era Rams prior to his injury. The former Bills draftee broke through upon joining McVay in Los Angeles in 2017, reeling off his four highest receiving yardage totals from 2017-20. Woods surpassed 1,100 yards in 2018 and ’19 and caught 90 passes for 936 yards in 2020. After sweetening Woods’ contract previously, the Rams gave him an extension in September 2020. Landing Woods for just a 2023 sixth-round pick, the Titans took on that contract weeks before dealing Brown to the Eagles.

In Woods’ defense, the Titans were not readily equipped to produce a full-fledged bounce-back season. The team started an unready Malik Willis in three games and was without Ryan Tannehill for five in total. Woods, 30, finished his 10th NFL campaign with 53 catches for 527 yards and two touchdowns. The 6-foot receiver’s 9.9 yards per reception was a career-low figure.

The USC product did not establish much momentum in Tennessee, but he did play all 17 games. On a thin receiver market, Woods catching on with a fourth team is not difficult to foresee. Any deal will not come close to the $16.25MM-per-year pact the Titans are shedding, but Woods would make sense as a veteran auxiliary target. The longtime starter will now have an early start in free agency. As a street free agent, Woods signing somewhere would not affect the compensatory formula.

Tennessee’s Brown decision backfired quickly. Deemed too costly by ex-GM Jon Robinson, the former second-round pick broke the Eagles’ single-season receiving record and caught a deep touchdown pass in Super Bowl LVII. The Titans, who also let Corey Davis walk in 2021, had no receiving presence on Brown’s level. Woods, who came to Nashville a year after the team traded a second-round pick for Julio Jones, led Tennessee’s 2022 edition in receiving, with Treylon Burks‘ 444 yards second among the team’s wideouts. The Titans ranked 30th in passing last season.

While Burks should be expected to play a centerpiece role for the 2023 team, new GM Ran Carthon will have work to do in assembling a receiving corps. The Woods and Lewan cuts will save the Titans more than $26MM, though they still have cost-clearing tasks ahead of the market opening. These transactions moved the team’s cap-space total to barely $2MM, according to OverTheCap.

Restructure Details: Woods, Lowry

November 30th, 2022 at 8:05pm CST by Ely Allen

Here are some details on recent contract restructures in the NFL:

  • Robert Woods, WR (Titans): Halfway through his first season in Tennessee, Woods has agreed to a restructure of his contract that opens up a bit of salary cap space for a team that sorely needs it, according to ESPN’s Field Yates. The new agreement converts a portion of his base salary into a signing bonus, freeing up $2.6MM in cap space for the Titans. The team has been among the bottom-five teams in the NFL in regard to cap space this year and is poised to be in a bad position next year, as well. The move shows that general manager Jon Robinson is starting to plan for the impending offseason and making sure that Tennessee is set up well for the future.
  • Dean Lowry, DE (Packers): Lowry agreed to make his contract a bit more team-friendly after seven years in Green Bay, according to Yates. The team will convert approximately $1.5MM in base salary into a signing bonus, similar to Woods’ agreement. The move will clear up about $1.1MM in cap space for the Packers. Lowry is in the final year of his second contract with the team. Helping Green Bay find a little cap space puts Lowry in a favorable position heading into negotiations for a potential third deal.
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