Ed Bouchette has confirmed a rumor circulating last night that the Pittsburgh Steelers have indeed signed former Ohio State quarterback Troy Smith to a future contract. Smith won the Heisman Trophy in 2006, his senior year with the Buckeyes, and was subsequently drafted by the Baltimore Ravens in the fifth round of the 2007 NFL Draft.
In his first 3 seasons with the Ravens, Smith started just 2 games. He was released by the Ravens before the start of the 2010 season and was quickly signed by the San Francisco 49ers where he started 6 games during his one season there. For his career Smith completed 121 of 234 pass attempts for 1,734 yards. He has 8 passing touchdowns to his credit to go along with 5 interceptions.
Backup quarterbacks Byron Leftwich, Charlie Batch and Dennis Dixon are all currently free agents and that leaves Ben Roethlisberger as the only quarterback currently under contract until March. The Steelers will likely re-sign either Leftwich or Batch or even both, but until then they need some arms for mini-camps and OTA sessions. They also signed former Texas A&M quarterback Jerrod Johnson to a future contract last week.
