The Pittsburgh Steelers announced the signing of S Eric Rowe to their practice squad yesterday. After spending part of last season on the practice squad last year, he was forced into starting duty late last season. Even though the Steelers appreciated with his play, they never re-signed him.
In fact, Rowe, now 32, never ended up signing anywhere, nor do I believe he had any workouts. It’s unclear why the Steelers didn’t value him enough to offer him another contract at the time. HC Mike Tomlin claimed at the end of the season he was “certainly” interested in continuing to do business with Rowe. Rowe went so far as to say in March that he was “trying to” come back to the Steelers. And he was equally happy when he finally came back after eight months. And Teryl Austin is glad to have him, even if there’s no place for him at the moment.
“[Eric Rowe] did a great job for us last year, and so we think he’s really a quality football player and we’ll bring him in for depth if something happens”, Austin said Tuesday via transcript from the Steelers. “We know he’s a guy that if we need to, bring him up and he’ll be really successful in the role that we need him to be in, and he’s also a quality, quality human being”.
Earlier this offseason, the Steelers brought back another former safety of theirs, Terrell Edmunds, “for depth if something happens”. They ended up using him for a little more than that but later waived him. Nobody really knows why, but now they have Eric Rowe.
At the moment, the Steelers have Minkah Fitzpatrick, DeShon Elliott, Damontae Kazee, and Miles Killebrew at safety on their 53-man roster. They also list Cameron Sutton at safety though he is primarily a cornerback. Rowe gives them credible depth at the position on the practice squad.
A second-round pick of the Philadelphia Eagles in 2015, Eric Rowe started his pro career as a cornerback. He has now played throughout the secondary during his decade-long NFL career but rarely as a consistent starter.
As injuries mounted at safety for the Steelers at the end of last season, they called upon Rowe and CB Patrick Peterson to start the last three games. During that run, Rowe recorded 29 tackles with a forced fumble, an interception, and two passes defensed. He also recorded eight tackles and a pass defensed in their lone playoff game.
Even though he was productive, the Steelers never made Rowe another contract offer, apparently. But the 31 other teams had access to the same tape and nobody else wanted him, either. At 32 years old, teams are always looking to get younger rather than older. But the Steelers remember what he did for them at the end of last season.
