Steelers News: Did Nick Vannett show enough for the Steelers to give him a new deal?

The Pittsburgh Steelers 2019 season is officially over. After finishing the year 8-8, the Steelers, and their vast fan base, has another long offseason awaiting them. Just because the games are done doesn’t mean we stop providing you with features, commentary and opinions to tide you over throughout the offseason!

Today in the black-and-gold links article we take a look at whether or not tight end Nick Vannett did enough in 2019 to prove his worth and get a new contract with the Steelers in 2020.

Let’s get to the news:

• Everyone gloats about the Minkah Fitzpatrick trade, and rightfully so, but did another trade candidate earn himself another contract with the Steelers?

Tight end Nick Vannett believes he showed Steelers enough to return to team

By: Chris Adamski, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review

Five days after he arrived in Pittsburgh, Nick Vannett was in the starting lineup for the Pittsburgh Steelers.

He played more than three-quarters of the offensive snaps Sept. 30, not only playing as an in-line tight end but also going in motion, lining up in the backfield and out wide. Vannett even played on special teams that Monday night against the Cincinnati Bengals.

“For me to come out and perform,” Vannett said last week, looking back, “I was proud of that under those circumstances that day. And hopefully I can continue to do that here. But that’s out of my control now.”

It is, at least partially. Just 13 weeks after Vannett’s Steelers tenure began, it could have ended with their loss at the Baltimore Ravens. A four-year veteran, Vannett is set for unrestricted free agency.

The 26-year-old fit in to the Steelers locker room and meshed into the offense after what can often feel like a jarring in-season trade. Until the Steelers acquired him for a fifth-round pick, Vannett had been with the Seattle Seahawks since they took him in the third round of the 2016 draft.

To read the full article, click HERE (Free)

• Ben Roethlisberger’s foundation continues to help aid in providing K-9 police officers around the country.

Steelers’ Ben Roethlisberger funding Sacramento’s next police K-9

By: The Sacramento Bee, via the Tribune-Review

Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger awarded a grant to the Sacramento Police Department that has allowed it to add a dog to its K-9 unit.

Though Roethlisberger was sidelined this season with an elbow injury, he pledged to distribute grants toward the K-9 units of police and fire agencies in the NFL cities and surrounding communities of each road game in 2019, choosing the recipients based on proposals submitted by departments nationwide.

With the San Francisco 49ers hosting the Steelers in September a couple of hours away in Santa Clara, the Sacramento Police Department requested and received one of those grants, according to a Thursday news release by The Giving Back Fund, the parent organization of the Ben Roethlisberger Foundation.

“With this generous grant, the unit was able to purchase an additional K-9 for the department,” Sacramento Police K-9 Officer Alexander Wagstaff said in a statement. “The use of K-9s in our department is a vital component of effectively keeping the community safe.”

To read the full article, click HERE (Free)

• The Steelers recently added a very dynamic wide receiver to their roster.

Steelers add prolific former University of Buffalo WR to offseason roster

By: Chris Adamski, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review

The Pittsburgh Steelers continued to bolster their offseason roster, adding a big and productive former college wide receiver Wednesday.

Anthony Johnson was signed to a reserve/future deal. The 6-foot-2, 209-pound Johnson had 133 catches for 2,367 yards and 25 touchdowns in two seasons at the University of Buffalo. He was projected as a fourth-round pick last year by the NFL’s official website, but he went undrafted and spent training camp with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Johnson was picked up by the Los Angeles Chargers after Week 1 and spent the entire season on their practice squad.

To read the full article, click HERE (Free)

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