Category: Football

Adam Thielen found a taker on the waiver wire. The Steelers, who did not end up trading for a wide receiver at the deadline, are claiming the veteran, NFL.com’s Tom Pelissero reports. Thielen had asked to be waived, but he did not end up making it to free agency — or too far down the wire.

This opportunity came about after the Vikings cut ties with the Minnesota native Monday. The Vikes had acquired Thielen from the Panthers just before the season. At the time, that move was framed as a way for Thielen to help out a hopeful contender. That did not end up happening, with the Vikings struggling (as the Panthers have reawakened). Now, Thielen will have a shot — in what looks set to be his final stretch of NFL action — to aid the Steelers’ quest to hang on in the AFC North.

A team already housing the likes of T.J. Watt and Cameron Heyward did not shy away from adding aging talent this year, having signed Darius Slay and Aaron Rodgers while trading for Jalen Ramsey. The Steelers waived Slay earlier today, but Thielen — at 35 — will be brought in to help a scuffling passing attack. The NFL’s oldest active wideout, Thielen did not make much of an impact during his second Vikings stint. But he should have a better chance to do so with the Steelers.

Thielen caught eight passes for 69 yards in 11 Vikings games, operating as an afterthought in a Vikings receiving corps featuring Justin Jefferson, Jordan Addison and Jalen Nailor. The Steelers have not seen a D.K. Metcalf complementary option emerge.

Metcalf has 605 yards on the season; no other Steeler has more than 300. This, of course, comes as George Pickens has erupted in a contract year — following a May trade with the Cowboys. Pickens’ 1,142 yards in 12 games already set a new career-high mark. Pittsburgh developed an earned reputation for developing a host of wide receivers, but Roman Wilson has not caught on late in Year 2. The 2024 third-round pick has just 166 yards this season, after he missed almost all of his rookie year.

Although Thielen was not much help in J.J. McCarthy‘s debut, he does have a recent history of making significant contributions. Even in a 2024 season that saw him land on IR and miss seven games due to a hamstring injury, the former UDFA totaled 615 yards and five touchdowns. In his Carolina debut in 2023, Thielen posted his third 1,000-yard season — a 1,014-yard showing that included 103 catches. Maintaining quality form into his mid-30s, Thielen will attempt to help Rodgers in what is expected to be his final season.

Rodgers and Thielen have been friends for years, with the Minneapolis Star Tribune’s Ben Goessling noting earlier today this fit would make sense. The duo had discussed playing together in the past. That will come together for a Steelers team that has struggled, limping to 6-6 and hearing a cascade of boos rain down during a one-sided Week 13 loss to the Bills. Tied with the Ravens atop the AFC North, the Steelers are in jeopardy of squandering a big lead and perhaps finishing with a losing record for the first time in Mike Tomlin‘s 19-year tenure.

One of the NFL’s better possession receivers during this period, Thielen had teamed with Jefferson and Stefon Diggs before him to form quality receiving tandems in Minnesota. On Vikings teams competing with Rodgers for NFC North supremacy, Thielen eclipsed 1,200 yards in 2017 and ’18, earning Pro Bowl nods each year. Thielen collected a second-team All-Pro accolade in 2017, helping the Vikings to the NFC championship game. Thielen’s 64 touchdown catches rank eighth among active players.

He earned two Minnesota extensions and, following a 2023 release, caught on with the Panthers on a three-year, $25MM deal. Thielen reworked that pact this summer, accepting a pay cut to facilitate a trade to his home-state team. He is attached to a $3MM base salary this season. The Steelers will be responsible for $882K via this claim. They entered the day with just less than $4MM in cap space.

The rare modern cornerback to play an age-34 season, Darius Slay will see his time with the Steelers end earlier than expected. Pittsburgh is moving on from the veteran defender.

This is being described as a mutual parting, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter. Pittsburgh will sign fellow corner Asante Samuel Jr. from the practice squad to fill Slay’s roster spot. Slay was a healthy scratch for the Steelers’ Week 13 game against the Bills, foreshadowing this decision.

Slay is interested in continuing his career, but he will need to wait a bit before being allowed to pick his next destination. Although Slay is on a one-year, $10MM deal, the two-time Super Bowl starter’s base salary is the veteran minimum (for his service time) at $1.26MM. That would not put a waiver claim off the table for a corner-needy club. If Slay is unclaimed by 3pm CT on Wednesday, he will head back to free agency.

The NFL’s oldest active corner, Slay had viewed this as most likely his final season. The 13th-year cover man reunited with ex-Lions DC Teryl Austin in Pittsburgh and started nine games. Pro Football Focus viewed Slay on the fringes of the middle class at the position, slotting him 71st out of 110 qualified options. Slay has certainly played much better, as he enjoyed a quality prime. As evidenced from a free agency deal requiring $10MM, Slay generated interest when the Eagles cut him this offseason. It would not shock if he landed elsewhere to close one of the better CB careers in this era.

As we discussed in a Trade Rumors Front Office piece this offseason, the Steelers have not been shy about deploying aging corners. They traded for Jalen Ramsey this offseason, doing so two years after being Patrick Peterson‘s last stop; the future Hall of Famer played an age-33 season in Pittsburgh. The Mike Tomlin tenure has also seen Joe Haden, William Gay and Ike Taylor play into their 30s. With the Steelers residing at a crossroads following a one-sided loss to the Bills — a game that brought steady boos and calls for Tomlin’s ouster — they are shaking up their secondary.

The Steelers have experimented with Ramsey at safety, but Slay has continued to work in the boundary corner position — one that brought him considerable success since being a 2013 Lions draftee. Slay logged 422 outside CB snaps during a 10-game Steelers stint. The six-time Pro Bowler broke up three passes and did not log an interception. Slay did allow a 75% completion rate and a 108.0 passer rating as the closest defender. While he is charged with only one touchdown allowed as a Steeler, his performance fell short of expectations ahead of the healthy scratch.

Tuesday’s transaction also blocks other teams from making sales pitches to Samuel, who could have been poached from Pittsburgh’s practice squad. Added after an extensive visit tour last month, Samuel debuted for the Steelers — as a practice squad elevation — in Week 13. He played 28 defensive snaps in a backup role. With teams seeing Samuel healthy, interest may well have come after he reverted back to the practice squad. But the 26-year-old CB is now on the 53-man roster, ending such speculation.

More to come.

The Steelers placed left tackle Broderick Jones on injured reserve and elevated cornerback Asante Samuel Jr. from the practice squad for Sunday’s game against the Bills, per a team announcement.

The 2023 first-round pick will miss at least four games due to his IR placement. His earliest return would come in Week 17 against the Browns.

Jones suffered a neck injury during Pittsburgh’s Week 12 loss to the Bears. Six-year veteran Calvin Anderson closed out the game, but head coach Mike Tomlin said on Saturday that Andrus Peat would take over blind side duties in Week 13.

Jones, 24, started the Steelers’ first 11 games of the season, allowing six sacks and 23 pressures in 356 pass-blocking opportunities, per Pro Football Focus (subscription required). His 95.9 pass block efficiency is not much better than his 95.3 marks in the previous two season.

Peat will start at left tackle in the meantime. He has barely played in the last two years, but started 11 games at left tackle in New Orleans in 2023. He allowed two sacks and 30 pressures in 459 pass-blocking opportunities, per PFF, suggesting he can be a solid but unspectacular fill-in for Jones.

Samuel, 26, will make his 2025 debut against the Bills He was cleared from offseason spinal fusion surgery at the beginning of November and signed with the Steelers after taking visits with a number of teams. Sunday’s game will be Samuel’s first action in over a year and the Steelers are entering Week 13 with a relatively healthy cornerback room. As a result, he may not see much action, though Pittsburgh may try to get him in the game so he can reacclimate to the field. That would also give the Steelers a chance to evaluate Samuel and see what he can contribute for the rest of the year.

The Texans are expected to begin extension talks with star edge rusher Will Anderson early in the 2026 offseason, per Dianna Russini of The Athletic.

Anderson, the No. 3 pick in the 2023 draft, recorded seven sacks and 10 tackles for loss as a rookie, earning him a Pro Bowl nod and Defensive Rookie of the Year honors. He took his play to another level in 2024 with 11.0 sacks and 16 tackles for loss, which both tied for the 10th-most in the league. He did, however, miss five games due to injury across his first two seasons, suggesting his production could have been even higher.

That has been the case this season. If 2024 was a breakout, 2025 has been an explosion. Anderson has the second-most sacks (10.5) and tackles for loss (14) in the NFL, putting him on pace for career-highs in both categories. He ranks second among all pass rushers with 64 pressures and a 27.2% pass rush win rate, per Pro Football Focus (subscription required). Those numbers put him in the company of Micah Parsons and Aidan Hutchinson, both former first-round picks who signed their second contracts worth at least $45MM this year.

Anderson’s market will be in a similar range. He is headed for his second Pro Bowl, may receive All-Pro consideration, and could earn some Defensive Player of the Year votes. (He finished 14th last year). He will still be 24 when the 2026 season begins and has the additional leverage since the Texans made a costly trade up to draft him in 2023, which should position him to at least match Hutchinson’s $45MM APY, if not push to match or surpass Parsons’ $46.5MM APY.

Anderson’s rookie deal runs through 2026, plus his fifth-year option for 2027 that the Texans are all-but-certain to exercise. They can do so as early as January 5. The signing bonus from an extension would likely increase Anderson’s 2026 cap hit, so getting the deal done early will clarify their cap situation heading into free agency. It will also limit the possibility of other increases in the edge rusher market to drive Anderson’s price even higher, a situation that the Cowboys and Steelers ran into this year with Parsons and T.J. Watt.

Daniel Ekuale was already out for the season, but now the Steelers defensive tackle will have to forego a paycheck over the next five weeks. That’s because Ekuale was slapped with a five-game suspension today, per Gerry Dulac of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

[RELATED: Steelers DL Daniel Ekuale Suffers ACL Tear]

Ekuale earned his temporary ban for violating the league’s Performance-Enhancing Substances Policy, per Dulac. This represents the third suspension of the player’s career; Ekuale earned a four-game ban in 2018 and a two-game suspension in 2022 for the same violation.

The Washington State product bounced around the NFL a bit to begin his career before finding a home in New England. He spent four seasons with the Patriots, but he didn’t emerge as a key player until 2024. Ekuale finished that season having started all 16 of his appearance, with the defensive lineman setting career-highs in tackles (52) and QB hits (three). In 64 career games, the 31-year-old has collected 97 stops and six sacks.

His performance with the Patriots earned him a one-year, $2.8MM deal from the Steelers this past offseason. He got into seven games with his new squad, appearing in about 14 percent of his team’s defensive snaps. Ekuale suffered a torn ACL back in Week 8 that ended his season prematurely. Considering that injury and his continued bans from the league office, the defensive lineman may face an uphill battle to find a job in 2026.