Some Monday morning house-keeping for you, Steelers Nation. The New York Giants signed safety Michael Thomas to a two-year deal, according to multiple reports.
Thomas had previously taken a visit to Pittsburgh last week but left without a contract. He, like Matthew Slater, who re-upped with the Patriots, are now officially off the board. Thomas has been an elite special teamer and part-time piece defensively. The Steelers wound up signing Morgan Burnett shortly after Thomas’ visit. Burnett was their second free agent signing after they inked Jon Bostic to a deal a couple days prior.
For Pittsburgh, free agency is close to ending, though Kevin Colbert kept things open-ended when speaking to reporters at the Owners Meetings yesterday.
“Door is always open because we can’t predict what will and won’t happen at this point,” he told Steelers.com’s Missi Matthews. “Obviously, there’s less free agents from the unrestricted group that are available but again, as trams put their own teams together, they may put other players out. And if such players are put out, then we have to react accordingly.”
In 2016, the team signed ILB Steven Johnson on March 25th and DE Ricardo Mathews on the last day of March. In 2014, they signed two players in April, Brice McCain and Darrius Heyward-Bey. So one or two more niche, minimum salary contracts are possible before the draft helps finalize their 90 man roster.
That could mean bringing in another special teamer, as the Steelers tried to do with Thomas. Eric Weems would be a sensible signing. Like Slater, he doesn’t offer much on offense but has been a key special teamer and has extensive experience as the upback on punts, a position left vacated by Robert Golden’s release.
