The Pittsburgh Steelers add three more to their 2022 practice squad

NFL cut down day has become something highly anticipated by fans across the league. Seeing if their “diamond in the rough” makes the roster or if their team parted ways with a particular player many feel should have been cut loose years ago, dissecting the initial 53-man roster feels like a true start to the regular season. But for those players who were left go on Tuesday, Wednesday brings a new day and perhaps a new opportunity to continue their NFL dream.

Welcome to the NFL practice squad.

After players with 4 or less accrued seasons clear waivers, each team can sign players to their official practice squad. For three seasons now, the practice squad was expanded to 16 players and 6 of those players can be of unlimited accrued seasons (and therefore are players who were not subject to waivers). The players on the practice squad can be promoted by the Steelers or signed by other NFL teams, but once again for 2022 each team can protect up to 4 players from Tuesday on each week who can’t be claimed by another team until after their game. And don’t forget, each week a team can promote up to 2 players from the practice squad to the active roster without having to remove another player.

For the Pittsburgh Steelers, they announced 8 players of their 2022 16-man practice squad Wednesday, and the list of players is below:

RB Anthony McFarland
OL William Dunkle
OL John Leglue
OL Ryan McCollum
WR Cody White
OLB Hamilcar Rashed
DT Carlos Davis
DB Elijah Riley

On Thursday, the Steelers added the following three players to the practice squad:

DB Mark Gilbert
TE Justin Rigg
LB Chapelle Russell

The three players added on Thursday were not a part of the 2022 Steelers preseason. Defensive back Mark Gilbert was on the Steelers 2021 practice squad before being signed to the Detroit Lions. The breakdown now comes as 6 players on offense and 5 on defense. Obviously there will be 5 more players to come.

The practice squad can change, just like the team’s 53-man roster can certainly change between now and the Week 1 game vs. the Cincinnati Bengals. For this reason, stay tuned to Behind The Steel Curtain for any updates on any roster moves and all Steelers news as they prepare for the kickoff of the 2022 season.

To hear more on this half of the Steelers’ 2022 practice squad, check out yesterdays podcast below:

And for a breakdown of all the Steelers roster moves on Thursday, check out BTSC’s breaking news podcast below: