Steelers claim a safety off waivers, release Donovan Stiner

The Pittsburgh Steelers continued to tweak their 80-man offseason roster. On Wednesday it was reported by Aaron Wilson of the Pro Football Network the Steelers were awarded safety Elijah Riley off of waivers from the New York Jets.

Undrafted out of Army in 2020, Riley signed with the Philadelphia Eagles following the NFL Draft. Failing to make the 53-man roster, Riley landed on the practice squad and was elevated for the Eagles matchup against the Steelers. In mid December, Riley was signed to the active roster and finished the season with five games played but with only four snaps on defense and 65 on special teams.

Failing to make the Eagles roster again in 2021, Riley landed back on the practice squad and was activated for one game with the Eagles where he played eight special team snaps. In November, the Jets signed Riley off the Eagles practice squad, where he played in seven games with 386 defensive snaps where Riley had 1.0 sacks, one pass defense, 45 tackles, and three tackles for loss.

Landing back with the Jets for 2022, Riley was released on Wednesday as one of the many players throughout the NFL who were left without a job as rosters were trimmed down to 80 players.

To make room on the roster, the Steelers released safety Donovan Stiner.

In two preseason games with the Steelers this season, Stiner played a total of 67 snaps where he had four tackles, according to Pro Football Focus.

The information shared by Wilson about injury settlements with Tuzar Skipper and Master Teague III simply mean the players are free to sign with other teams when healthy rather than land on the reserve/injured list with the Steelers.

Stay tuned to Behind The Steel Curtain as the Pittsburgh Steelers prepare for their final preseason contest this Sunday against the Detroit Lions at Acrisure Stadium.