Geno Stone is a western Pennsylvania native from New Castle, a free safety who was a three-year starter at Iowa before declaring for the 2020 NFL Draft with a year of eligibility remaining. The Pittsburgh Steelers were in the market for a safety in terms of depth. They passed him over six times.
Stone was available to be selected in the seventh round when the Steelers were making their final selection, but instead they opted for Antoine Brooks, a safety out of Maryland whom general manager Kevin Colbert described as half a linebacker. The former ended up being drafted by the Baltimore Ravens instead.
Stone did make the team, but he spent the first four weeks of the season as a healthy scratch. He was waived on Thursday, meaning that he is now subject to waivers. We may soon find out whether or not the Steelers were interested in him.
At least if he clears waivers. I do not think that they would put in a waiver claim for him, because they are content with the safety depth that they have after having been able to bring back Sean Davis, who is capable of backing up both starting positions, with Jordan Dangerfield a key cog in the special teams machine.
They could certainly be interested in him for the practice squad, however, where Brooks currently resides. John Battle is another safety on the practice squad, but he was only signed after the Steelers lost Curtis Riley from there when the Arizona Cardinals signed him to their 53-man roster.
One thing of note is that it could be a while before we hear much of anything. Under the new protocols, a player must go through a six-day cycle of Covid-19 testing before he is cleared to enter the building for anything more than a physical. If the Steelers were to claim Stone, that would be a different story (though he would still have to go through that process), but otherwise, news of any movement could be delayed.
As of now, the Ravens have not made a corresponding move to add somebody to the 53-man roster. Rookie cornerback Khalil Dorsey has been elevated to active status from the practice squad for the past two weeks, so if they want him to continue to dress for games, he will have to be signed to the 53-man roster. These are similar circumstances under which Riley was released by the Cardinals earlier this week.
