Monday was a big day for the Pittsburgh Steelers at their 2020 training camp practice at Heinz Field as the veteran players joined the rookies and younger players on the grass. It was also a seemingly big and important day for the Steelers on the NFL’s official transaction sheet for Monday as well as no players were listed as being physical unable to perform.
Unless the rules have changed in the new CBA, and I can’t see where they have, the Steelers will now move forward with their 2020 training camp without having any players listed on their Active/PUP list. In short, this should mean that no players are eligible for the Reserve/PUP list at the start of the regular season.
Once a player begins practicing at training camp, he is no longer eligible for the Active or Reserve PUP lists. For a player to be eligible for the Reserve/PUP list at the start of the regular season he must have been on the Active PUP list at the start of training camp.
What does all the above mean in plain terms? In short, if a Steelers player gets injured during training camp moving forward, he isn’t eligible to be placed on either of the two PUP lists.
Last year, the Steelers opened their 2019 training camp up by placing outside linebacker T.J. Watt on the team’s Active/PUP list with a hamstring issue before the team’s first official practice. He was ultimately removed from Active/PUP on August 4.
The Steelers still have three players, wide receiver James Washington, running back Jaylen Samuels and cornerback Justin Layne, listed on the team’s Reserve/COVID-19 list as of Monday night. Those three players do not count against the teams Active 80 man-roster. Once one of those players is activated from the Reserve/COVID-19 list, the team will need to make a corresponding move to accommodate that player on their 80-man roster.
