Wesley Johnson signed off waivers by New York Jets

Jets claimed OL (center/guard) Wesley Johnson off waivers from Steelers to replace the injured Brian Winters. #nyj

— Manish Mehta (@MMehtaNYDN) October 13, 2014

The Pittsburgh Steelers released rookie offensive lineman Wesley Johnson last week to make room on the roster for Ross Ventrone, who was filling in for injured safety Shamarko Thomas on special teams.

The Steelers were most likely expecting to re-sign Johnson once Thomas returned to the lineup, but the New York Jets stepped in today and signed Johnson off waivers, eliminating any chance the Steelers have of bringing back their versatile 5th round pick in the 2014 NFL Draft.

It is a risk an NFL team runs when releasing a valuable young player like Johnson who was versatile enough to play almost every position along the offensive line. More times than not, the player is able to be re-signed, but in this case the Steelers are now without yet another 5th round draft pick.

In the past two years, there have been three 5th round draft picks taken by the Steelers. None have played an official down for the Steelers, 2 of them are no longer with the team and one is on the practice squad.

The drafting of the Steelers in recent years has been highly scrutinized, and rightfully so after yet another draft pick doesn't contribute anything to the organization.