With veteran tight end Rodney Williams still dealing with what head coach Mike Tomlin described as an A/C joint issue in his shoulder following a hard fall Saturday during practice, the Pittsburgh Steelers are adding to the tight end room.
The Steelers announced the signing of tight end Matt Sokol Tuesday morning ahead of the first padded practice of training camp at Saint Vincent College in Latrobe. The Steelers also made another corresponding roster move Tuesday, signing defensive back Kyler McMichael and announcing the release of WR Marquez Callaway and veteran slot cornerback Josiah Scott ,which was reported Monday night.
Sokol is wearing No. 49 for the Steelers, wearing the same jersey number as outside linebacker Jeremiah Moon defensively, while McMichael is wearing No. 42.
Steelers Depot’s Alex Kozora is at training camp practice Tuesday and captured a photo of the Steelers’ new tight end before the first padded practice.
New addition to the Steelers roster, bringing in a TE with Rodney Williams (shoulder) hurt. We’ll get name/announcement soon. #Steelers pic.twitter.com/R9aB3n334q
— Alex Kozora (@Alex_Kozora) July 30, 2024
Scott had been viewed as a potential answer at the slot cornerback position during the offseason as Pittsburgh never quite addressed the position until signing Cameron Sutton in the final week of OTAs. Sutton has since been suspended for the first eight games of the season due to his offseason arrest in Florida. That led to his release by the Detroit Lions and eventually back to Pittsburgh on a one-year deal.
Scott signed last October with the Steelers and spent the rest of 2023 on their practice squad.
With Williams on the shelf for the time being with the shoulder injury, the Steelers needed another body at tight end behind Pat Freiermuth, Darnell Washington, Connor Heyward and MyCole Pruitt.
Sokol is an undrafted free agent out of Michigan State who came out in the 2019 NFL Draft. Sokol landed with the Los Angeles Chargers and bounced around with Chargers, Detroit Lions, Jacksonville Jaguars and New England Patriots.
He has played eight NFL games, seeing 53 snaps offensively and another 37 snaps on special teams. Coming out of Michigan State, Sokol measured in at 6-foot-5, 253 pounds and ran a 4.87 40-yard dash.
Sokol spent the 2023 season with the Patriots on the practice squad but was not re-signed to a reserve/futures deal this offseason.
McMichael is an undrafted free agent out of North Carolina in the 2022 NFL Draft who competed in the East-West Shrine Bowl that year before signing with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers as a free agent. He was waived by the Buccaneers as part of final cuts and then spent the 2022 season on the Buffalo Bills’ practice squad.
McMichael signed a reserve/futures deal with the Bills after the 2022 season but was later waived by Buffalo. He landed with the Arizona Cardinals, where he went through training camp before he was waived-injured and spent the season on Injured Reserve with an undisclosed injury.
He was released by Arizona on March 13.
Coming out of college, McMichael measured in at 6001, 202 pounds and ran a 4.49 40-yard dash.
The move to release Callaway early in camp is a bit of a surprise. The Steelers signed him to a reserve/futures contract in January and have a clear need at receiver behind George Pickens on the depth chart. Callaway was a dark-horse candidate for the roster having played 45 career NFL games with 83 receptions for 1,069 yards and seven touchdowns across four seasons.
