As we’ve done in previous years, we’re taking a look at those Pittsburgh Steelers under Future contracts for the 2024 offseason — the ones who spent most of, 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 S Nate Meadors.
Nate Meadors/S UCLA – 5112 196 pounds
My apologies to Nate Meadors. I left him off my Reserve/Future list of names, realizing only as I began my training camp preparation. So I’m squeezing this one in last second in our effort to shine a light on every play on the roster, No. 1-91.
In college with the Bruins from 2015-2018, Meadors primarily played cornerback. With experience inside and out, he logged 256 outside corner snaps his senior year with another 190 in the slot. His overall college production was good though not great, finishing with 149 total tackles (four for a loss), three interceptions, and two sacks. His best season came as a junior in 2017, ending the year with nine pass breakups and a pick-six.
Undrafted after posting average testing (4.52 40, 37-inch vertical, 9’11” broad), he signed with the Minnesota Vikings in 2019. There, Meadors began the switch to safety and held up well enough to appear in two games as a rookie. He finished the year logging 34 total snaps (23 on special teams, 11 more on defense) with a pair of tackles. For an UDFA with an uphill climb, that’s not a bad outcome. The Vikings retained him, and he appeared in one game the following year, though didn’t log a defensive snap.
Since, things have gotten bumpy. Cut by Minnesota in October 2020, Meadors has spent time with six NFL teams and one UFL squad. You could rattle them off to the “50 states” song. Theeeeeere’s Jacksonville, Philadelphia, Cleveland and New York (the Giants!), Tennessee and St. Louis (the Battlehawks!), aaaaaaand Pittsburgh. Put that on your Spotify playlist.
Pittsburgh initially signed Meadors to its practice squad two days after Christmas before re-upping on a Reserve/Future deal in early February.
Meadors hopes to stop living out of a suitcase. And to get back on an NFL field. That 2020 season was the last time he logged a regular-season snap. Since, it’s been camps and preseasons followed by his pink slip. On paper, a lack of size and high-end athleticism work against him.
The good news? He’s survived a couple of Steelers cuts. Trenton Thompson and Jalen Elliott were axed this offseason without a safety brought in. From a camp perspective, it actually leaves Pittsburgh relatively thin at the position with just six safeties on the 91-man roster. If everyone stays healthy, that’s enough to carry them through with first-, second-, and third-string lines. One injury though could require an outside add.
But if Meadors can stay healthy, he’s guaranteed a healthy amount of reps each practice, even if it’s *just* third-string. Reps are reps and that’s huge. There’s a path to make the practice squad, and for now, that’d be good enough for him.
