The Pittsburgh Steelers have lost LB Jon Rhattigan to the Las Vegas Raiders, according to his agency JL Sports on X. (h/t Pro Football Talk).
Rhattigan signed to the team’s practice squad on Sept. 3 and was elevated on game day one time against the Seattle Seahawks in Week 2. He logged six total snaps on special teams that week, with five on kick return and one on punt return.
Initially entering the league in 2021 with the Seattle Seahawks as an undrafted free agent, Rhattigan is reuniting with his first NFL head coach, Pete Carroll. He played under Carroll from 2021 until the end of training camp in 2023.
Rhattigan is not the first practice squad player recently poached from the Steelers’ roster. S Sebastian Castro was signed by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers off Pittsburgh’s practice squad.
The Steelers made a practice squad move on Tuesday to sign RB Raheem Blackshear and parted ways with veteran ILB Ja’Whaun Bentley as a corresponding move. Perhaps Bentley will circle back to Pittsburgh now to provide additional linebacker depth, though Rhattigan was more of a special teamer than a defensive position player.
The Steelers are thin on experienced linebacker depth after their top three of Patrick Queen, Cole Holcomb, and Payton Wilson. Carson Bruener is the only other linebacker on the roster, but he has just one defensive snap in his young career so far. EDGE K.J. Henry was in for a workout with the Steelers on Tuesday. Maybe he will end up getting signed this week. He played 22 special teams snaps for the Cincinnati Bengals and Dallas Cowboys last year and 78 with the Washington Commanders in 2023.
The practice squad is a great place to stash players for game-day elevations on special teams or for emergency depth, but there is nothing preventing players from signing elsewhere if another team desires their services. The Steelers have found that out twice in the last couple of weeks.
