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With the Pittsburgh Steelers depth at tight end still looking relatively light as the team begins the third phase of their offseason training program, it should perhaps come as no surprise to learn that the front office made an attempt to upgrade their talent at the position on Monday.
As per Field Yates of ESPN, the Steelers were one of five teams who placed a waiver claim on recently released New York Jets tight end Jordan Leggett, ultimately losing out to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers who had the highest priority on the waiver wire.
Source: the Buccaneers, Bills, Packers, Steelers and Titans all placed a claim on former Jets TE Jordan Leggett. Tampa Bay landed Leggett because it had highest waiver wire order priority.
— Field Yates (@FieldYates) May 22, 2019
Leggett has been on the team’s radar before, a player they were potentially considering in 2017 after they met with him at the NFL Scouting Combine and then took him out to dinner when visiting Clemson to watch him perform at his pro day. Selected by the Jets in the fifth round of the draft with the 150th overall pick, Jeremy Fowler of ESPN surmised at the time that Leggett might well have been the target for the Steelers with their fifth round pick (173 overall).
The former Clemson product missed his entire rookie season after injuring his knee and ending up on injured reserve, but appeared in 15 games last year, including four as a starter. He would finish the season with 14 receptions for 114-yards and a touchdown. Given the tight ends the Steelers currently have on the roster, Leggett would have figured to be competing for a backup position as the third choice option, possibly challenging Xavier Grimble for the No.2 role with a strong training camp. He will now be forced to attempt to restart his career in Tampa Bay instead.