Former Pittsburgh Steelers center Kendrick Green is leaving the AFC North. But he is joining a face very familiar to the division.
According to the NFL transaction wire, Green signed with the New York Giants practice squad Friday. With the signing, Green will play for former Baltimore Ravens head coach and Steelers rival John Harbaugh.
The Steelers selected Green at No. 87 overall in the third round of the 2021 NFL Draft. Pittsburgh moved Green from guard to center and started him 15 games at the new position as a rookie in 2021.
However, Green didn’t play for the Steelers again after his rookie year. The team traded him to the Houston Texans before the 2023 campaign.
Most recently, Green was with the Cleveland Browns. The Browns released the 27-year-old from their reserve/injured list on Tuesday.
Now healthy, Green will be on the Giants practice squad for Week 4.
Former Steelers Third-Round Pick Kendrick Green Signs With Giants
Green is one of four offensive linemen on the Giants practice squad as of the first weekend in October. All of them have the general “offensive line” tag as their positions.
During his college career at Illinois, Green played mostly guard but also some center. But the Steelers tried him at center during his rookie campaign, which was also Ben Roethlisberger’s final season. Unfortunately, the transition to full-time center didn’t go well for Green.
After that failure, the Steelers moved Green back to guard, but he didn’t win a starting job in 2022. Green was inactive for all l17 contests during the 2022 campaign.
With the Texans, Green became a starter again and appeared to be off to a decent start in 2023. However, he suffered a torn meniscus during Week 4 and missed the rest of the campaign.
In 2024, Green started just one contest and served as a backup for the other 16. Last season, Green was with the Buffalo Bills practice squad for a bulk of the year. The Browns poached him off the Bills practice squad for their active roster. Green dressed for Cleveland in Week 18 and remained with the team throughout this past summer.
On August 7, though, Green landed on injured reserve with an undisclosed injury.
With the Giants, Green could provide depth at any of the interior offensive line positions. Most of his NFL experience is at center, but he’s likely best suited to play guard.
At Illinois, Green made the first-team All-Big Ten team as a senior in 2020. He spent four seasons with the Fighting Illini.
Durable three-year starter with above-average initial quickness. Capable of playing guard or center, Green’s lateral get-off makes him a natural fit for teams heavy into outside zone as a primary run scheme,” wrote NFL.com’s Lance Zierlein in 2021. “He can get to play-side reach and back-side cuts and he specializes in washing his defender out of the play once he’s engaged on the move.
“He plays a little too upright at times and lacks the length and drive power in his lower half to move one-on-one blocks around with adequate sustain. The run blocking will stand out to evaluators, but recognition inconsistencies in pass protection might cause some concerns.”
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