Joe Sargent/Getty Images Chris Wormley of the Pittsburgh Steelers after getting injured in the third quarter against the Baltimore Ravens on December 11, 2022.
According to Field Yates of ESPN, the Pittsburgh Steelers are signing former New York Jets 6th-round pick Jonathan Marshall to the team’s 53-man roster.
The Steelers are signing DT Jonathan Marshall off of the Jets’ practice squad to their 53-man roster, per source. He entered the league as a 2021 sixth-round pick out of Arkansas.
Marshall, a second-year defensive tackle, will be filling the spot vacated by veteran defensive lineman Chris Wormley, who suffered what Mike Tomlin called a “significant” injury during Sunday’s 16-14 loss to the Baltimore Ravens. Ian Rapoport of NFL Network has since reported that Wormley has a torn ACL and will be out for the remainder of the year.
#Steelers DE Chris Wormley tore his ACL and is out for the season, source said. Coach Mike Tomlin called the injury “significant.”
Jonathan Marshall Was a Jets 6th-Round Pick in 2021
Jonathan Marshall was selected No. 207 overall in the 2021 draft out of Arkansas. Listed at 6-foot-3 and 310 pounds, he played nose tackle in college (where he was a one-season starter), but NFL analyst Lance Zierlein has labeled him as “much better suited to play three-technique in a penetrating front.” In a pre-draft profile, Pro Football Focus described Marshall as having “legit explosiveness for a 310-pound defensive tackle,” but that he “wears down far too easily over the course of drives and games.”
In 2021 he appeared in four games for the Jets and was credited with two tackles and a quarterback hit. This year he was part of New York’s final round of roster cuts and subsequently joined the Jets practice squad.
For what it’s worth, Jets fans took to Twitter in the wake of the news and praised Pittsburgh’s move, with one individual writing: “Steelers got a stud! Only reason he’s not on our active (roster) is the insane depth. He’s a strong, feisty interior guy.”
Another tweeted: “Very solid. Just got lost in very deep Jets D-Line rotation. Has promise.”
The move is not unlike one Pittsburgh made in November 2021, when it poached defensive tackle Montravius Adams off the practice squad of the New Orleans Saints. Adams was re-signed by the Steelers in the offseason and has appeared in 13 games this season (with five starts).
Marshall joins an increasingly long list of Steelers players who have come over from the Jets in recent years, including veteran cornerback Arthur Maulet and practice squad safety Elijah Riley.
Also, in August the Steelers claimed linebacker Hamilcar Rashed Jr. on waivers; he was placed on practice squad injured reserve in September and later released. In September 2022, Pittsburgh signed ex-Jets cornerback Quincy Wilson to its practice squad. Wilson, a former 2nd-round pick of the Indianapolis Colts was cut from the practice squad on Nov. 22.
Chris Wormley Will Be an Unrestricted Free Agent in 2023
It’s an especially bad time for Wormley to suffer a torn ACL, as the 29-year-old is a pending unrestricted free agent.
Since being acquired in a trade with the Ravens in March 2020, Wormley has appeared in 41 games for the Steelers (with 16 starts), as per Pro Football Reference. During those games he has been credited with 88 total tackles (45 solo), including 10 tackles for loss, 8.5 sacks, 14 quarterback hits, two forced fumbles and a fumble recovery.
Wormley’s first season in Pittsburgh was underwhelming but after the Steelers signed him to a new two-year contract in March 2021, he responded with a career-best season. That year he started 14 games and established new career highs in tackles (51) and sacks (7).