As we’ve done in previous years, we’re taking a look at those Pittsburgh Steelers under futures contracts for the 2024 offseason. The ones who spent most if not the entire year on the practice squad and what we can expect from them during training camp and (hopefully) into the regular season. Today, an outlook on CB Thomas Graham.
Thomas Graham/CB Oregon – 5103, 192 pounds
Thomas Graham is one of the outsiders the Steelers signed to their offseason roster, part of the team’s second waves of Reserve/Future additions that occurred on Jan. 23. As is typical for the organization, he ties back to pre-draft interest. Ahead of the 2021 NFL Draft, Graham met with the team during the Senior Bowl, linking up with then-BLESTO Scout Dennis MacInnis, who also attended Oregon.
Our Owen Straley penned the report on Graham coming out, touting him as a man corner willing and able to tackle in the open field.
“Overall, Thomas Graham Jr. enters the NFL with a skill set that will allow him to contribute as a boundary cornerback immediately. Although he is a potential fit in most schemes, I tend to believe that Graham would best fit with a team which relies heavily on man coverage-centric schemes, yet also occasionally deploys traditional, Cover 2 sets, with the cornerback serving as a flat defender.”
Ultimately, Graham was drafted by the Chicago Bears in the sixth round. He appeared in four games as a rookie, making one start, and finished the year with 13 tackles and four pass breakups, a solid number given his lack of overall playing time.
Returning for his second year, Graham quickly found himself on a new team. Waived during final cutdowns ahead of 2022, he was placed on the Bears’ practice squad before being poached by the Cleveland Browns in early September. He appeared in seven games but didn’t play much, logging more snaps on special teams (55) than defense (37) and recording six total tackles.
Graham made it to Browns’ camp last summer but suffered an ankle injury in the Hall of Fame game to open the NFL’s 2023 season. Waived/injured, he was soon placed on IR and stayed there until being released in late-November, a sign he was healthy again. He hit the tryout circuit, working out for the Steelers in early January as the team updated a list of potential Reserve/Future targets. It’s why they held a handful of tryout waves, bringing in numerous players per week not because they were needed for the present but as offseason targets. Evidently, Graham showed enough to be signed by the team later in the month. For his career, he’s played more outside corner than in the slot but has a mix of both on his resume, which certainly won’t hurt his chances.
With a Steelers cornerback room in flux — Levi Wallace and James Pierre are pending free agents along with uncertainty hanging over Patrick Peterson’s future — Graham could try to emerge. Not as a starter, of course, but a potential No. 5 type of corner who can play on special teams. Should Pierre and WR Miles Boykin exit, the team will have lost its two starting gunners. Perhaps Graham could be in the mix to replace one of them. Like most players signed to these offseason deals, he’s on the outside looking in, but his NFL experience will give him a leg up on much of his competition come the summer.
