Steelers Bring Back 6-Game Starter 1 Day After Release: Report
The Pittsburgh Steelers waived cornerback Beanie Bishop Jr. as part of their cuts ahead of the NFL’s roster deadline Tuesday. But he wasn’t away from the organization very long.
NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero reported Wednesday that Bishop cleared waivers and the team signed the cornerback to their practice squad.
https://x.com/TomPelissero/status/1960753768804524354
As an undrafted rookie in 2024, Bishop started six games while appearing in all 17 regular season contests. While playing mostly in the nickel, Bishop had seven pass defenses, four interceptions and two tackles for loss.
Most notably, the 25-year-old had two interceptions in a primetime affair versus Aaron Rodgers.
The Steelers made a few surprising roster cuts at cornerback Tuesday. In addition to Bishop, the team parted ways with veterans Chuck Clark and James Pierre.
Steelers Depot’s Joe Clark called Clark the biggest roster cut surprise for the Steelers. CBS Sports’ Jared Dubin and Zachary Pereles included Bishop on their NFL-wide list of surprising roster cuts.
But Bishop will return to Pittsburgh on the practice squad. Several of Pittsburgh’s cuts will reportedly come back along with the second-year cornerback.
Steelers Adding Beanie Bishop Jr. to Practice Squad
Bringing back Bishop will likely be a popular move in Pittsburgh. The cornerback quickly became a fan favorite when he performed well during training camp as a rookie from West Virginia.
During the first three weeks of 2024, Bishop played significant snaps for the Steelers defense. At the time, veteran slot cornerback Cameron Sutton was serving an eight-game suspension.
Bishop started his first game in Week 4. He was also in the starting lineup from Weeks 7-10 and Week 16.
However, Bishop’s playing time significant decreased during the second half of the season. Part of that was the return of Sutton, but the team appeared to be putting the rookie in fewer situations as well.
Bishop played 71.2% of the team’s defensive snaps in the first eight games of 2024. During that stretch, he averaged 44.3 snaps on defense per game.
In the final nine contests, Bishop played 32.6% of the team’s defensive snaps and averaged 21.6 snaps per game.
Steelers Finalizing Practice Squad
Bishop will hardly be the only player the Steelers cut ahead of Tuesday’s deadline that will rejoin the organization on the practice squad. Actually, Pittsburgh’s entire first practice squad for the 2025 is the team’s own cuts.
The Steelers announced Wednesday that Pierre was one of the other players the team cut but to sign to the practice squad. Joining Bishop and Pierre on the squad were three other defensive backs — Sebastian Castro, D’Shawn Jamison and Daryl Porter.
Also on defense, the Steelers inked Kyler Baugh, DeMarvin Leal and Julius Welschof to the practice squad.
Eight offensive players joined them on the squad. The offensive position group with the most spots on the squad was wide receiver. The Steelers signed Robert Woods, Max Hurleman and Ke’Shawn Williams.
Woods has 12 years of experience in the league and was expected to add a veteran presence to the Steelers receiver room this fall.
Offensive linemen Dylan Cook and Steven Jones, running backs Lew Nichols and Trey Sermon and tight end J.J. Galbreath were the other practice squad signings for Pittsburgh on Wednesday.
NFL teams are allowed a maximum of 16 players on their practice squads unless one of those players is in the league’s international program. Welschof, an edge rusher, is part of that program. Therefore, while the Steelers have already signed 16 players, they are permitted to make one more addition to their practice squad.