UCF quarterback John Rhys Plumlee is one of the five undrafted free agents the Pittsburgh Steelers agreed to terms with following Saturday’s draft. And the Steelers, by their standard, paid plenty to land him. According to NFL insider Aaron Wilson, Plumlee received a $35,000 signing bonus from the team.
The Steelers are one of the few teams that don’t offer partial base salary guarantees to UDFAs, the workaround teams use to avoid the signing bonus cap limit (just over $183,000 this year) and land the top undrafted players. And generally, Pittsburgh’s signing bonuses are small amounts with the top addition often receiving around $20,000-25,000.
To our knowledge, that $35,000 signing bonus is a Steelers record. Last year’s fourth-string quarterback Tanner Morgan received a $25,000 bonus. Of course, with a rising salary cap and rising bonus pool, the numbers naturally go up, but this is still a notable amount.
A multi-sport athlete who played baseball throughout his college career, Plumlee was a top recruit out of high school. He began his career playing quarterback at Ole Miss before the team switched him to receiver late in the 2020 season. He played receiver for all of 2021, catching 25 passes, before transferring to UCF. He returned to quarterback and started the past two seasons, throwing 15 touchdowns in 2023. Mobile, he also rushed for 16 touchdowns over the past two seasons, though a 2023 meniscus injury that required a brace sapped some of his running ability.
Our scouting report noted his toughness and athleticism but questioned his ability to stay at quarterback given a lack of accuracy. But if the Steelers are paying him that large of a bonus, then it’s to play quarterback, not wide receiver.
John Rhys Plumlee will enter camp as the team’s No. 4 quarterback behind Russell Wilson, Justin Fields, and Kyle Allen.
Elsewhere, Charlotte EDGE Julius Welschof reportedly received a $5,000 signing bonus, a figure much more typical to a Steelers UDFA.
Born in Germany, Welschof began his college career at Michigan before transferring to Charlotte for 2023. He was injured four games into the season but was healthy enough to work out at his Pro Day. A tall stand-up linebacker at 6065, 257 pounds, he ran a 4.82 with an impressive 7.01 three-cone time. He appears eligible for a roster exemption, allowing him to be on the Steelers’ practice squad and not count against the roster. He’ll join former Charlotte 49ers in DL Larry Ogunjobi and OLB Alex Highsmith.
We’ll have a scouting report on Welschof in the coming days. When we get word of signing bonus amounts for the team’s other three UDFAs, CB Beanie Bishop (who probably received a decent amount in that 15-25k range), RB Daijun Edwards, and LB Jacoby Windmon, we’ll be sure to pass along that information.
