The Pittsburgh Steelers have signed EDGE rusher John Simon to a Reserve/Futures contract, the team announced moments ago. I’m sure there’s no other news of the day to overshadow such a story.
Simon was signed to the Steelers’ practice squad on December 13th after injuries to the team’s outside linebacker depth. He appeared in one game for the team, their Week 16 blowout loss to the Kansas City Chiefs. There, he logged 11 defensive snaps, failing to show up in the stat sheet.
Simon, who turns 32 in October, will try to stick on the roster throughout camp as veteran edge depth. He’ll compete with the likes of Taco Charlton and Derek Tuszka. Simon is an older defensive reserve for the team to carry into the offseason but they must’ve liked what they saw in their couple weeks with him on the team. At this point in his career, he doesn’t have much special teams value, so it’ll be hard for him to crack the 2022 roster unless he can establish himself as a clear #3 OLB, the way Melvin Ingram did in 2021.
For his career, Simon has appeared in 100 games, making 52 starts, and recording 21 sacks. An Ohio State prospect, he was drafted by the Baltimore Ravens in the fourth round of the 2013 NFL Draft. Last season, he also appeared in two games for the Tennessee Titans, recording six tackles.
