Ahead of the Friday preseason opener against the Houston Texans, the Pittsburgh Steelers continue to tinker with their roster.
According to NFL insider Aaron Wilson, the Steelers are signing rookie undrafted free agent linebacker Easton Gibbs. In addition to the signing of Gibbs, the Steelers have waived/injured LB Tyler Murray, according to the team.
Gibbs, who starred at Wyoming in college, signed with the Seattle Seahawks as an undrafted free agent.
Gibbs spent three months with the Seahawks before being placed on the Active/Non-Football Injury or Illness list on July 18 and then was released on July 30. It is unclear why he was on the NFI to open Seahawks training camp, but he eventually passed his physical on July 25, according to Sports Illustrated, and was activated before being let go five days later.
According to Steelers Depot’s Alex Kozora at practice Wednesday morning, Gibbs is wearing No. 34 for the Steelers.
According to video via college2pro.com’s Bo Marchionte on Twitter, Gibbs is warming up and will participate in practice right away for the Steelers.
Murray was an interesting story for the Steelers, signing to the practice squad in mid-November last season while he was working at Amazon.
Murray spent time in college at Troy, Charlotte and Memphis. He spent some time with the Cincinnati Bengals after being undrafted coming out of Memphis in the 2023 NFL Draft.
Murray suffered a groin injury Tuesday in practice, according to head coach Mike Tomlin, which led to the move Wednesday.
Gibbs played in 45 career games at Wyoming with 26 career starts. He finished his college career with 358 tackles, 22 tackles for loss, seven sacks, one interception, 11 passes defensed, three forced fumbles and two fumble recoveries.
As a team captain for the Cowboys in 2023, Gibbs recorded 109 tackles, four tackles for loss, 2.0 sacks, one interception, six passes defensed, two forced fumbles and one fumble recovery. He was named a first-team All-Mountain West Conference player in both 2022 and 2023.
Gibbs is a unique developmental story, going from a two-star recruit as a safety and developing into one of the best linebackers in the country last season. He comes in on the smaller side though.
Gibbs is 6003, 232 pounds with 30 3/8-inch arms. He clocked a 4.73 40-yard dash at the 2024 NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis and added a 9’1″ broad jump and a 31.5-inch vertical.
In the scouting report for Steelers Depot, Gibbs — who competed in the 2024 East-West Shrine Bowl in Dallas — was described as the following:
“…profiles as a smart football player, one who can handle a key role in a pinch at the next level. He has flashes of strong run defense and some solid coverage chops for the position, especially with his safety background and being a former quarterback in high school.
“He also rarely misses tackles when he gets to the ball carrier, which is a major plus. But the lack of length (smallest arm length and wingspan of all Combine linebackers) and a lack of speed limits Gibbs. He has the makings of a strong, steady presence on special teams and might be able to handle some passing down duties at times early on. But projecting anything more is a stretch.”
Check out our full report on Gibbs from the pre-draft process below.
