Late last night, Jaylon Smith’s agent announced that he would be signing with the Pittsburgh Steelers. It was later clarified that he would first be signing to the practice squad. This morning, the team officially announced his signing to the practice squad along with S Nate Meadors.
Meadors entered the league in 2019 as an undrafted free agent with the Minnesota Vikings. He bounced on and off their practice squad and active roster until just before the 2020 season and has since spent time with the Jacksonville Jaguars, Philadelphia Eagles, Cleveland Browns, New York Giants, and Tennessee Titans. He was most recently with the Browns in August but was released later that month. He has appeared in three games in his career. All three were with the Vikings in 2019 and 2020. He registered two total tackles in those games.
Recently, Meadors was with the St. Louis Battlehawks as he was selected in the XFL’s 2023 Supplemental Draft last January. He was released from that contract and briefly went back to the Browns before signing back with the Battlehawks on Dec. 8, just a few weeks ago.
Smith, just 28 years old, was a second-round pick in the 2016 NFL Draft by the Dallas Cowboys. He has been hampered by injuries throughout his career. Some of those date back to his college years at Notre Dame where he suffered a major knee injury that included nerve damage and put his draft stock at risk. He was able to work his way back from injury after his rookie season and appeared in all 16 games in four-straight seasons from 2017-2020, earning a Pro Bowl trip in 2019. He’s appeared in just one game this season for the Las Vegas Raiders, making two tackles. He also spent some time with the New Orleans Saints this past offseason in training camp.
These moves come on the heels of OLB David Perales being released from the practice squad and the Colts signing S Henry Black off the Steelers’ practice squad. The Steelers have suffered a number of injuries, including a recent pectoral injury to ILB Elandon Roberts, and their safety room has already been running thin, so it makes sense to bring in some bodies at those two positions.
