Karl Joseph is the most notable name announced among the 15 players signed to the Pittsburgh Steelers’ practice squad today. A former first-round pick from West Virginia, he was released by the Raiders yesterday.
Joseph, 27, visited the Steelers in late March but left without a contract, choosing to return to the Raiders instead. He battled injuries in the preseason and was cut by the team Tuesday.
In five years, Joseph has made 49 career starts. 41 of those came with the Raiders with the other eight coming with the Cleveland Browns, the team he spent last year with. Joseph has five career interceptions, one in each season, with 303 total tackles and three career sacks.
Joseph was the 14th overall pick of the Raiders in 2016. A star at West Virginia, he racked up 274 career tackles for the Mountaineers along with nine interceptions and three forced fumbles.
He’ll add safety depth to a Steelers’ defense searching for it, though the fact he was signed to the practice squad and not the 53 comes as a mild surprise. It’s also an indication he didn’t have a lot of league-wide interest. Safeties on Pittsburgh’s active roster include: Minkah Fitzpatrick, Terrell Edmunds, Miles Killebrew, and rookie Tre Norwood. The Steelers are still carrying just 8 DBs on their 53-man roster.
Joseph was one of 15 players signed to the team’s practice squad and one of five signed who weren’t part of Pittsburgh’s training camp roster. The others include: WR Steven Sims, OLB Derrek Tuszka, OLB Christian Miller, and DL Daniel Archibong.
If you’re interested in looking way-back, here’s our player profile on Karl Joseph we did in 2016 from our own Josh Carney.
