With starting cornerback William Gay currently dealing with a shoulder injury and fellow cornerback Cortez Allen now out for the season with a knee problem, the Pittsburgh Steelers head into Week 8 of their 2015 season with just three healthy cornerbacks on their 53-man roster. Because of that, you probably expect the team to make a roster move at some point during the week.
While odds are good that rookie fourth-round draft pick Doran Grant will be promoted from the team’s practice squad by Saturday evening, you can’t quite rule out the possibility of a free agent being signed, instead.
Last week, the Steelers brought in cornerback Robert McClain, who entered the league in 2010 with the Carolina Panthers as a seventh-round draft pick, for a workout. While a bit undersized, the journeyman does have quite a bit of game experience and that includes him playing on special teams. While probably best-suited to play in the slot, McClain can also play outside should an emergency situation arise.
As for the status of Gay, we’ll have to monitor that throughout the week. It should be noted, however, that he did play quite a few snaps in Sunday’s loss to the Kansas City Chiefs after he suffered his shoulder injury. Additionally, Gay has never missed a game during his long NFL career, so you can bet he will do everything that he can in order to play Sunday against the Bengals.
If a cornerback is signed to the 53-man roster this week, the Steelers will need to release or waive a player as part of the transaction. Assuming starting quarterback Ben Roethlisberger is healthy enough to return to action on Sunday, rookie Tyler Murphy might wind up being the player let go.
Veteran quarterback Mike Vick could be a candidate to be released as well if the team is now comfortable with Landry Jones as their No. 2 signal caller behind Roethlisberger. Vick is currently dealing with a hamstring injury, however, so that needs to be taken into consideration as well.
