By the looks of things, I picked a great day to be away from home for a fantasy draft.
Like many of you, I was surprised to see the Pittsburgh Steelers waive cornerback Doran Grant on Sunday and now we’ll have to sit back and wait to see if he’ll be claimed off waivers. If he isn’t, one would think that he might be destined for the practice squad. That’s not guaranteed, however.
According to some quick research, Grant is currently the highest 2015 draft pick to be waived. He isn’t however, the only fourth-round selection to waived as Cleveland Browns wide receiver Vince Mayle and Seattle Seahawks guard Terry Poole were also waived on Saturday.
It’s quite possible that there’s more to the story with Grant than what we know, but at the time of this post nothing has surfaced.
The last time the Steelers had a player that was drafted in the first four rounds that failed to make a Week 1 roster was in 2007 and that player was defensive end Ryan McBean. He was drafted 132nd overall that year in the fourth round and that selection was a compensatory one. In case you’re curious, he cleared waivers and was ultimately signed to the team’s initial practice squad.
In 2006, fourth-round draft pick, defensive tackle Orien Harris, was also cut just prior to the start of the regular season. He wound up being signed by the Browns that December.
In 2005, fourth-round draft pick, wide receiver Fred Gibson, was released during the final round of cuts that year and he wound up landing on the practice squad of the Miami Dolphins a few days later.
To round out the Kevin Colbert era, wide receiver Danny Farmer, the teams fourth-round draft pick in 2000, was waived prior to the start of that regular season and he was immediately claimed by the Cincinnati Bengals.
