The internet can be a dangerous place when it comes to misinformation about the Pittsburgh Steelers, and such was the case this week when it came to defensive end Corbin Bryant, who was released by the team on Saturday to make room for practice squad offensive lineman John Malecki.
The latest misinformation centered around Bryant and the notion that he was signed to the 53 man roster off of the Steelers practice squad because another team wanted to sign him. The only problem with that rumor is that Bryant wasn\’t even on the Steelers practice squad and has been a free agent ever since his release during the final cut downs prior to the start of the season.
The reason that Bryrant was signed to the 53 man roster off of the street was because the Steelers had an opening when they placed rookie nose tackle Alameda Ta\’amu on the suspended list on Tuesday. They needed another defensive lineman this week to help in practice and Bryant was an obvious choice because of the time he has been around the team.
The reason that Malecki was not signed to the 53 man roster until Saturday is because the team really did not have to make that move until 4 p.m. today. In addition, the team still wanted time to gauge the status of center Maurkice Pouncey this week in practice and not tip their hand of his status early in the week to the Cincinnati Bengals. A little gamesmanship, if you will.
Following the Sunday night game against the Bengals we could see Malecki stick another week on the 53 man roster and Bryant signed to practice squad to fill that empty spot. That move makes the most sense as Bryant would have cleared waivers by then.
When Ta\’amu is ready to be removed from the suspended list in another week, Malecki will most likely be waived and resigned to the practice squad and offensive lineman Jacques McClendon, who was signed on Tuesday, will likely then be released. Whether or not Bryant is then released from the practice squad depends on if the team wants to bring back tight end Jamie McCoy to the practice squad, as he was the player released on Tuesday to make room for McClendon.
I hope that clears up all of the misinformation and rumors for you which likely started when Bob Labriola tweeted that Bryant had been promoted from the practice squad on Tuesday. That was just a mistake on his part as Bryant was a free agent heading into this past week and not on the practice squad.
