At least for now, it doesn’t really look like Paxton Lynch is going anywhere any time soon. After flirting with carrying just two quarterbacks on the 53-man roster, the Pittsburgh Steelers are back on the three-QB bandwagon, and there are no imminent roster moves to suggest that that might change at some point later in the year.
After trading Joshua Dobbs early in the season, the Steelers made the decision to re-sign Devlin Hodges—to the practice squad. Not just a rarity, but virtually unique in the team’s history. Then Ben Roethlisberger went down, Hodges was signed to the 53 to take his roster spot, and Lynch was signed to the practice squad.
After Mason Rudolph missed time with a concussion before the bye, Lynch was promoted to the 53-man roster in a series of four moves due to injury that saw the team waive rookie Fred Johnson. But Johnson was claimed off waivers, and Anthony Chickillo has since been placed on the Commissioner’s Exempt List, so that’s likely two roster spots they won’t be needing to get back this year.
So perhaps Lynch can breathe. He’s still essentially in the same position he would be if he were on the practice squad, but there is a bit more security—and a bump in pay—that comes with being on the actual roster. And heh got an opportunity to grow more into the offense during the bye week after signing with the Steelers two games into the season.
“I know that bye week, even though we only had one day of letting me get some reps out there, that was really beneficial to me”, Chris Adamski quotes him as saying for the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. “Even though it was only one day, for me, it was getting those reps, getting an opportunity to see it on the field. I think that’s what helped me the most — so I took that one day and kind of took it as much as I could”.
Lynch, a former first-round pick of the Denver Broncos, had previously spent time this offseason with the Seattle Seahawks, but he remained a free agent after failing to make the 53-man roster. Now, he should have the opportunity to collect 10 more game checks, ideally while not dressing.
Nevertheless, he also told Adamski that he has “no idea” what the team’s plan is for him. With Rudolph fully back from his concussion, there exists the possibility that they could waive him and try to move him back to the practice squad. But there isn’t any roster move they need to make, so that seems unlikely.
