With all of the injuries the team has experienced in the back end of its secondary, the Pittsburgh Steelers added safety depth with a pair of roster moves on August 8.
The Steelers announced they signed safety Jalen Elliott. To make room for him on the roster, the Steelers waived wide receiver Ja’Marcus Bradley.
Elliott is entering his third season in the NFL. He began his career as an undrafted free agent in 2020.
The Steelers are signing Elliott a few days after he was one of four defensive backs the Steelers invited in for a workout. In addition to Elliott, safety Ben DeLuca, along with cornerbacks John Reid and Jace Whittaker participated in that workout.
As for Bradley, he recently suffered a hamstring injury in practice. Steelers Depot’s Josh Carney wrote that he “should clear waivers and revert back to” Pittsburgh’s injured reserve, where he will likely receive an injury settlement.
Steelers Sign S Jalen Elliott Amid Multiple Safety Injuries
Elliott didn’t appear in a regular season game as a rookie after he was an undrafted free agent in 2020. But after spending the first six games of 2021 on the Detroit Lions practice squad, the Lions signed the safety to their 53-man roster.
Elliott played in eight of the team’s final 11 games that season. The Lions mostly deployed him on special teams, but Elliott did play 51 defensive snaps in his lone NFL starts against the Denver Broncos. He also lined up for at least 20% of the team’s snaps on defense against the Philadelphia Eagles and Steelers.
In eight games that season, Elliott posted 12 combined tackles.
Elliott spent 2022 training camp with the New England Patriots, but he didn’t make it to the final round of cuts. He was on the Las Vegas Raiders roster during the spring. Las Vegas released Elliott on May 1.
In college, Elliott served as a captain at Notre Dame. He recorded 172 total tackles, 11 pass defenses and 6 interceptions in 44 games. He had career highs of 7 pass defenses and 4 interceptions as a junior in 2018.
The Steelers are signing Elliott to the 90-man roster with safeties Keanu Neal and Damontae Kazee still sidelined with injuries.
The good news for the Pittsburgh secondary is All-Pro safety Minkah Fitzpatrick has returned. He missed the first week and a half of training camp because of a personal reason.
Steelers Lose WR Ja’Marcus Bradley to Injury
Unfortunately, it took an injury to Bradley for the Steelers to have room to sign Elliott.
In college, Bradley starred at Louisiana Lafayette, as he averaged more than 15 yards per catch in three of his last four seasons. Bradley also recorded 10 receiving touchdowns in both his junior and senior campaigns.
Bradley joined the Cleveland Browns as an undrafted free agent in 2020. He played in three games as a rookie, catching 5 passes for 60 yards. The following season, he had 4 receptions for 64 yards in five games.
The Browns released Bradley late in training camp last season. The Steelers signed him to their practice squad on November 23. Then, Pittsburgh signed him to a future’s contract at the end of the season.
Without Bradley, the Steelers have 11 wide receivers remaining on their 90-man roster.
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Steelers Release Former College Star WR to Bolster Safety Depth