Steelers sign 4 more players to Reserve/Future contracts

The Pittsburgh Steelers announced on Wednesday that they have signed another four players to Reserve/Futures contracts after signing 10 the previous day.

For the most recent round of signings, all four players come from outside the Steelers organization as they have spent time with other NFL teams but not in Pittsburgh. The newly signed players are as follows:

WR Dez Fitzpatrick
DB Madre Harper
DB Kenny Robinson
DB Chris Wilcox

Dez Fitzpatrick was a fourth-round draft pick by the Tennessee Titans in the 2021 NFL draft. He only appeared in four games his rookie season where he had 49 yards on five receptions with a touchdown and only had one game with no stats in 2022. Madre Harper was an undrafted free agent in 2020 of the Las Vegas Raiders and appeared in nine games for the Giants with five tackles and a fumble recovery. Harper appeared in three games in 2021 with the Carolina Panthers and was on their practice squad in 2022.

Kenny Robinson played his college football at West Virginia and was drafted by the Carolina Panthers in the fifth round of the 2020 NFL draft where he appeared in nine games his rookie season with one tackle and played 10 games with one start in 2021 with 17 tackles before spending time on the practice squad in 2022. Chris Wilcox was a seventh-round draft pick of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2021 but did not make the team and was claimed on waivers by the Indianapolis Colts before sliding over to their practice squad. Wilcox spent some time on the Arizona Cardinals practice squad in 2022 and has yet to officially appear in an NFL game.

These four players join the 10 players, all of whom spent at least some time with the Steelers practice squad in 2022, who signed yesterday:

WR Ja’Marcus Bradley
DB Duke Dawson
G William Dunkle
LB Emeke Egbule
RB Jason Huntley
C Ryan McCollum
DB Scott Nelson
RB Master Teague
WR Cody White
TE Rodney Williams

A Reserve/Future contract is when a player did not finish the year on a team’s 53-man roster and can sign with them or another team during the offseason. The reason it is considered to be a “future” contract is because it does not come into effect until the beginning of the new league year on March 15.

While the Steelers have 14 players signed to futures contracts, there are still seven players who finished the 2022 season on the Steelers practice squad who are not signed at this time. These players include:

DT Carlos Davis
CB Mark Gilbert
OL John Leglue
RB Anthony McFarland Jr.
LB Chapelle Russell
DE Mike Tafua
DT Renell Wren

With the Steelers offseason rolling into effect, these 14 signed players are most likely soon to have others joining the list in making up the Steelers 2023 offseason roster.

Stay tuned to Behind The Steel Curtain for continued coverage of the Pittsburgh Steelers throughout the entire 2023 offseason.