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As of 12:00 p.m. EST Sunday, any player who was released by an organization officially cleared waivers and was able to be signed to a team's practice squad. The Pittsburgh Steelers finalized their 2015 practice squad Sunday by signing 10 players to remain within the organization for a year.
Here are the 10 players who were signed by the team to represent their practice squad in 2015:
RB Dominique Brown
S Jordan Dangerfield
OL Reese Dismukes, Antonio Johnson
LB L.J. Fort, Shayon Green
DE Ethan Hemer
WR Shakim Phillips, Jarrod West
TE Harold Spears
Practice sqd: RB Dominique Brown; SS Dangerfield; OL Dismukes, Antonio Johnson; LBs LJ Fort, SGreen; DE Hemer; WR Phillips, West; TE HSpears
— Bob Labriola (@BobLabriola) September 6, 2015
How is a player considered eligible for the practice squad? Here are the rules:
In order to be eligible for the practice squad, players must meet one of the following requirements:
- Have no prior Accrued Seasons in the NFL (An accrued season is six or more games on the active roster);
- Have one prior Accrued Season in which the player was on the 45-man active roster for no more than 8 games;
- Each club will be permitted to sign a maximum of 2 Practice Squad players who have earned no more than 2 accrued seasons of free agency credit;
- If served two seasons on a practice squad, are eligible for a third season only if the team has at least 53 players on its active/inactive list for the duration of that player's employment.
- A player has served one season on the practice squad if he is on the practice squad for at least 6 games. The rule previously required 3 games on the practice squad roster.
The Steelers now have the freedom to make any additions or subtractions to their 53-man roster as the team prepares for their first regular season game against the New England Patriots Thursday in Foxborough, MA.