{"id":276006,"date":"2026-08-31T20:48:08","date_gmt":"2026-08-31T20:48:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/276006\/"},"modified":"2026-08-31T20:48:08","modified_gmt":"2026-08-31T20:48:08","slug":"2026-pittsburgh-steelers-practice-squad-tracker-updating","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/276006\/","title":{"rendered":"2026 Pittsburgh Steelers Practice Squad Tracker (Updating)"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Pittsburgh Steelers\u2019 initial 53-man roster is set,<\/a> but there\u2019s plenty more roster building to do. The Steelers will begin assembling their initial 16- or 17-man practice squad throughout the day. Head coach Mike McCarthy has consistently referenced the value of practice squaders who can play valuable roles when injuries strike and depth is tested.<\/p>\n

Should Pittsburgh include an international exemption player like EDGE Julius Welschof, the team can keep a 17th member along with 16 non-exempt players. Teams can have up to six veteran exceptions who may be added to the practice squad regardless of their years of service.<\/p>\n

Below is an updated tracker of the names Pittsburgh signs. Most will be internal from yesterday\u2019s group of cutdowns,<\/a> but some could come externally, too.<\/p>\n

Pittsburgh Steelers Practice Squad Tracker (14\/17)<\/p>\n

OL Doug Nester (via Brett Tessler<\/a>)
S Juanyeh Thomas (via Jeremy Fowler<\/a>)
RB Travis Homer (via Omar Khan<\/a>)
RB Lew Nichols (via Omar Khan<\/a>)
WR Brandon Smith (via Omar Khan<\/a>)
WR\/RB Max Hurleman (via Omar Khan<\/a>)
TE Lake McRee (via Omar Khan<\/a>)
OL Steven Jones (via Omar Khan<\/a>)
DL Esezi Otomewo (via Omar Khan<\/a>)
DT Kyler Baugh (via Omar Khan<\/a>)
DB Doneiko Slaughter (via Omar Khan<\/a>)
S Sebastian Castro (via Omar Khan<\/a>)
ILB Jacoby Windmon (via Omar Khan<\/a>)
OLB Julius Welschof (via Omar Khan<\/a>)*
*International Pathway Program (IPP)<\/p>\n

Thomas spent several seasons with Mike McCarthy in Dallas. From 2023-2025, he appeared in 36 games with four starts. He was last with the Colts and was released Sunday. With more than 700 special teams snaps and 550 defensive snaps, he\u2019s experienced and will give the team depth after DeShon Elliott was placed on injured reserve yesterday. Pittsburgh could elevate Thomas to the Active\/Inactive roster ahead of Week 1.<\/p>\n

Nester had a stronger summer with Pittsburgh than his first training camp with the team last year. Highly position-flexible, he played both tackle and guard spots this year and even dabbled at center during individual periods. With Jack Driscoll moving to injured reserve and Ryan McCollum making the 53, Nester was a strong bet to return to the practice squad. He led the team in preseason snaps with 145.<\/p>\n

Homer signed with the Steelers at the end of March as a depth running back and a key special-teams contributor. Despite missing the active roster, he figures to be one of the top candidates for game-day elevation on special teams early in the season.<\/p>\n

Nichols originally signed with the Steelers in July 2025 and has failed to make the in-season roster for two consecutive years. Many thought he had an outside chance of making it this year after another impressive preseason of running hard. He had 23 total touches for 101 yards and a touchdown across three preseason games.<\/p>\n

Smith was one of the top training camp darlings before an injury in the preseason opener derailed his progress. The fact that they didn\u2019t waive him with an injury settlement was a good sign that they wanted to keep him around, and that\u2019s exactly what they ended up doing. Aaron Rodgers even praised Smith at one point during camp. He had two catches for 13 yards before he was injured against the Packers. He returned against the Bills in the preseason finale.<\/p>\n

Hurleman signed with Pittsburgh as an undrafted free agent last season and has stuck around on the practice squad ever since. He was one of the preseason\u2019s biggest winners with several impressive catches and a blossoming role on special teams. If anything happens to Kaden Wetjen, or if he continues to struggle, Hurleman may be the top option to take his place.<\/p>\n

McRee was one of Pittsburgh\u2019s undrafted rookie signings this year and had a relatively productive preseason with five catches for 60 yards and a touchdown. It\u2019s unlikely he will be a game-day elevation this year with four tight ends on the 53, but he is an intriguing developmental player to reevaluate next year.<\/p>\n

Jones was one of the top options behind OG Spencer Anderson at the start of camp, but an injury pushed him down the depth chart. He\u2019s been with the team since January 2025, and could definitely get a helmet on game day or join the 53-man roster at some point this season as a valuable depth piece.<\/p>\n

Otomewo was a surprise on the Steelers\u2019 53-man roster last year, but was pushed out by high-upside rookies Gabriel Rubio and Kevin Jobity Jr. this season. He has decent regular-season tape and could be a candidate to get poached once injuries pile up around the league.<\/p>\n

Baugh has been with the team since Aug. 2025, and logged another high-effort training camp and preseason as one of the more entertaining players to watch. At 6-3, 295 pounds, he is undersized, but he makes up for it with a red-hot motor. He finished the preseason with four tackles, a half sack, and two QB hits.<\/p>\n

Slaughter signed with the Steelers in January on a future contract. The versatile defensive back got way more playing time than anybody anticipated due to injuries and holdouts. He finished the preseason with 10 tackles, a TFL, and a pass defensed, and remains an intriguing developmental option who could be called up on game day in a pinch.<\/p>\n

Castro initially signed with the Steelers as a UDFA last year, but was poached by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The Steelers later claimed him back off waivers, and he was a special teamer for eight Steelers games in the 2025 season. Robert Spears-Jennings and veteran addition Rayshawn Jenkins pushed him off the roster this year, but he has valuable in-helmet experience with the Steelers that could be called upon again in 2026.<\/p>\n

Windmon was initially a UDFA signing for the Steelers in 2024 before the Carolina Panthers added him to their 53-man roster. He made two starts over nine games in two years with the Panthers before re-joining the Steelers in June. He made seven tackles and a TFL in the preseason.<\/p>\n

Welschof has been the Steelers\u2019 IPP roster exemption player since he joined the team in April 2024. SI.com\u2019s Albert Breer called him a sleeper at Steelers training camp, and he backed that up with a nice preseason, including eight tackles, three TFLs, two sacks, and three QB hits.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Pittsburgh Steelers\u2019 initial 53-man roster is set, but there\u2019s plenty more roster building to do. The Steelers…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":276007,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[73,75,74,1833,995],"class_list":["post-276006","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-pittsburgh","tag-pittsburgh","tag-pittsburgh-headlines","tag-pittsburgh-news","tag-pittsburgh-steelers","tag-trending"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/276006","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=276006"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/276006\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/276007"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=276006"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=276006"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=276006"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}