Last season, cornerback Beanie Bishop Jr. was a good find for the Pittsburgh Steelers. He went from an undrafted free agent out of West Virginia to a valuable piece in the slot defensively for the Black and Gold.
As a rookie, he intercepted four passes and was around the ball a lot. He looked like the next young piece the Steelers were going to find for cheap and develop into a good player.
But so far this offseason, throughout training camp and the preseason, Bishop has seemingly lost a grip on his spot defensively, not to mention his roster spot. Thanks to the additions of veterans Darius Slay, Brandin Echols and Jalen Ramsey at cornerback, Bishop has been pushed down the depth chart.
He doesn’t offer much on special teams, either. Heading into the preseason finale against the Carolina Panthers in which defensive coordinator Teryl Austin stated he needed to fight and make plays, Bishop didn’t play a single snap due to what appears to now be an injury.
So, there’s some concern about his standing in Pittsburgh. For NFL.com’s Eric Edholm, he floated Bishop as a potential trade candidate ahead of Tuesday’s roster cutdown deadline.
“Last year, Bishop was quite the find — an undrafted free agent who played all 17 games, started six and plucked four INTs (including two vs. current teammate Aaron Rodgers). At worst, it appeared Bishop had a nice future in Pittsburgh,” Edholm writes of Bishop. “But the Steelers signed Darius Slay and Brandin Echols and traded for Jalen Ramsey this offseason, pushing Bishop to the margins. With multiple players already capable of playing the nickel, Bishop might be expendable.
“…It wouldn’t be stunning if the Steelers floated him in a trade.”
Though he missed the preseason finale and was unable to state a final case to make the roster, Bishop performed well in the preseason for the Steelers. He played 45 snaps and graded out at an 82.9 overall from Pro Football Focus, including an 89.9 overall in coverage.
He was good in coverage, allowing just eight receptions on 14 targets for 58 yards with two passes defensed. But the issues in run defense showed up time and time again, which is a big reason why the Steelers went searching for an upgrade at slot corner this offseason.
Bishop finished with a 38.3 in run defense and a 35.5 in the tackling department, recording two missed tackles in the preseason.
That could be why Austin said what he did about Bishop leading up to the preseason finale against Carolina. Unfortunately, he wasn’t able to get on the field and show what he could do.
Now, that makes things difficult for the Steelers when it comes to a decision. Could Pittsburgh float Bishop as a trade candidate and get something in return for him, even if that’s a 2027 draft pick? Potentially. But the more likely option might be trying to sneak him onto the practice squad, keeping that depth solid in the secondary.
Bishop is the name to watch ahead of roster cuts. We’ll see what the Steelers decide to do with the former UDFA.
