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On Tuesday January 4 Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker Jacob Tuioti-Mariner terminated his practice squad contract, as per Steelers.com. According to NFL reporter Aaron Wilson, the former UCLA product has since signed with the Carolina Panthers, though the team has yet to formally announce the addition of Tuioti-Mariner to the its active roster.
The Steelers Inked Tuioti-Mariner in November 2021
Jacob Tuioti-Mariner had been with the Steelers since November 11, 2021, having been added to Pittsburgh’s practice squad just one day after his “surprise” release by the Atlanta Falcons. He appeared in just six games for the Falcons this season, recording nine tackles, including two tackles for loss, two sacks and two quarterback hits.
That’s a far cry from 2020, when he appeared in all 16 games for Atlanta and even earned NFC Defensive Player of the Week honors in Week 12, responsible for six tackles, a strip-sack, a forced fumble and a pair of fumble recoveries during a blowout victory over the Las Vegas Raiders.
Last year Tuioti-Mariner, 25, made the switch from defensive lineman to linebacker, which may have accounted for his reduced role in Dean Pees’ defense. In Pittsburgh he was serving as a depth option behind backup outside linebackers Taco Charlton and Derrek Tuszka, having been acquired not long after Melvin Ingram III was traded to the Kansas City Chiefs in a deadline-day deal.
Tuioti-Mariner—listed at 6-foot-2 and 285 pounds—entered the NFL in 2018, signing with the Falcons as an undrafted free agent. He has played in 30 regular-season games with one start and has 54 career tackles, play three sacks, eight quarterback hits, two forced fumbles and three fumble recoveries.
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Steelers Release Practice Squad Punter, Placekicker
On Tuesday the Steelers also released a pair of specialists from the practice squad, namely punter Cameron Nizialek and kicker Sam Sloman.
The Steelers inked Nizialek on Christmas Day, the same day they signed punter Corliss Waitman to fill in for rookie Pressley Harvin III, who has missed the last two games in the wake of his father’s death. Waitman has performed admirably in Harvin’s absence, having punted seven times for an average of 52.1 yards per kick, with a net average of 42.6 yards. This as compared to Harvin, who has punted 62 times but has an average of just 43.3 yards per boot and a net average of 38.1 yards.
Sam Sloman originally signed to Pittsburgh’s practice squad on November 27, 2021, but was released in mid-December. The former 2020 seventh-round pick of the Los Angeles Rams also spent time with the Steelers this past summer. He was re-signed on January 3, 2022, only to be released a day later.
In other transactional business from Tuesday, the Steelers restored a trio of wide receivers to the practice squad. All three wideouts—Anthony Miller, Steven Sims and Tyler Vaughns—spent varying amounts of time on the practice squad Reserve/COVID-19 list.
The Steelers still have two practice squad players sidelined by COVID-19, those being defensive tackle Daniel Archibong and former Bengals wide receiver Damion Willis. The team currently has six roster players on its Reserve/COVID-19 list, including starting inside linebackers Devin Bush Jr. and Joe Schobert.
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