The Pittsburgh Steelers have claimed LB Jeremiah Moon off waivers from the Baltimore Ravens, per NFL insider Aaron Wilson.
Moon was waived on Thursday, creating space on the team’s 53-man roster for TE Mark Andrews, who was activated off injured reserve today. As Wilson’s tweet notes, the waiver claim won’t officially process until after the Super Bowl. Here’s the language from the NFL wire.
“The award of Jeremiah Moon, LB, Florida, to the Pittsburgh Steelers is deferred until Monday, February 12, the first business day after the Super Bowl.”
Making the claim even more unusual, Moon is slated to become an Exclusive Rights Free Agent this offseason. Because the Steelers will have him on their roster prior to the new league year, they will be responsible for retaining him. It will be easy to do, ERFAs have little freedom, and his contract will also be inexpensive. But the team will have to place the tender on him.
Undrafted in 2022, Moon had spent the past two seasons with the Ravens. He saw his first action in 2023, playing in eight games with one start and logging 99 total defensive snaps. Moon played 25 defensive snaps in the Ravens’ regular-season finale against the Steelers as the team rested starting LB Roquan Smith. Moon finished the game with four tackles, one for a loss, and recorded a forced fumble.
Moon bounced between the Ravens’ practice squad and 53-man roster throughout the season. With Baltimore, he primarily played as an EDGE rusher/outside linebacker and will presumably do the same with the Steelers. For Pittsburgh, he could slide in behind T.J. Watt, Alex Highsmith, and Nick Herbig, with veteran Markus Golden slated to hit free agency. There’s also LB Kyron Johnson, who carved out a special teams role late in the year, and UDFA David Perales, who spent the summer and part of the fall with the team. However, Moon also played some off-ball linebacker at Florida and it’s possible the Steelers kick him inside.
In six years at Florida, Moon recorded 151 tackles (14 for a loss) to go along with eight sacks. A physically imposing player, he weighed in at 6046, 247 pounds with long, 35-inch arms. at the 2022 NFL Combine. There, he impressed with a 4.76 40-yard dash, a whopping 40-inch vertical, and 11-foot-1-inch broad jump. Our Jonathan Heitritter wrote the scouting report on him, concluding:
“He needs to continue to develop on the football side of things in terms of technique and execution, but the physical tools are there to mold Moon into a contributing player in the league with the chance he makes a bigger impact as a pro than he did in college. The big concern with Moon will come down to his lengthy injury history and whether teams will sign off on his medical or if these injuries may continue to follow him to the pros.”
Moon suffered multiple season-ending injuries throughout his college career, including one to his foot in 2020. He also battled a shoulder injury during the pre-draft process, missing the Senior Bowl because of it. Check out our full report below.
