The Pittsburgh Steelers wasted no time filling one of their open practice squad spots after the trio of cuts that occurred at the 2024 NFL trade deadline.
“The Steelers have signed former [Cincinnati] Bengals defensive tackle Domenique Davis to their practice squad,” Steelers Now beat reporter Alan Saunders informed on X. “Davis played D-II ball and in the USFL before getting his shot in Cincy, where he spent the last 2 1/2 seasons.”
KPRC 2 NFL insider Aaron Wilson also confirmed this signing on November 5.
Davis first entered the league as an undrafted rookie out of North Carolina-Pembroke in 2020. He signed with the New York Jets organization but was cut later that summer.
From there, Davis dropped out of the NFL for a couple of seasons according to The Football Database, playing during The Spring League with the TSL Jousters. He later joined the USFL Houston Gamblers in spring of 2022 before making his NFL return that summer.
At that point, Davis found a home with the Bengals, and he’s been there ever since.
The long-time Cincy staff favorite didn’t appear in many regular season games with the Bengals (two total), but he did serve as organizational depth from 2022 through parts of 2024. He has three career regular season tackles and 1.5 preseason sacks.
Davis has yet to record a regular season sack despite his preseason flashes. During his stint in the USFL, he logged 3.5 sacks as a member of the Gamblers.
Steelers Bolster Defensive Tackle With Montravius Adams on IR
The Davis signing aims to strengthen the depth behind Keeanu Benton with veteran Montravius Adams on the injured reserve.
Currently, Pittsburgh already has Breiden Fehoko and Jacob Slade employed on the practice squad at the position, but it’s considered to be a weaker area of the roster.
Ahead of the deadline, certain members of the media even predicted that the Steelers could look to address the interior defensive line via trade, and perhaps general manager Omar Khan did. No move was made, however, and the swift D-tackle addition makes some sense in that regard.
Davis weighs in at 6-foot-2 and 330 pounds. That puts the 28-year-old lineman on the smaller side compared to the rest of the Steelers DL, similar to Fehoko and Slade.
We’ll see if he does enough to stick around in Pittsburgh for the remainder of the season.
Steelers Focus on Smart, Affordable Purchases at NFL Trade Deadline
The Athletic graded the Steelers’ two deadlines deals a “B” and a “B+,” with the general reaction being that they were low risk moves that could provide a notable impact.
PennLive reporter Nick Farabaugh discussed the exact details of each affordable trade return on November 5.
“Sources tell PennLive that the Steelers’ [own] seventh-round pick will be heading to Green Bay in the [Preston] Smith deal, not one of the two seventh-round picks they acquired in the Kenny Pickett trade,” Farabaugh noted.
Continuing: “Meanwhile, whichever fifth-round pick ends up lower will be the one going to the New York Jets [for Mike Williams]. The Steelers have their own fifth-round pick as well as the Los Angeles Rams’ fifth-round pick from the Kevin Dotson trade.”
Per Farabaugh, Pittsburgh currently still holds every 2025 pick from the top four rounds, as well as one fifth and two sevenths — unless Justin Fields plays 51% of snaps. If he does, the conditional sixth rounder that was traded for Fields becomes a fourth.
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Steelers Sign Former 3-Year Contributor of the Bengals: Report