Player: CB Asante Samuel Jr.
Stock Value: Purchased
Reasoning: Signed a few days ago to the practice squad Asante Samuel Jr. could make his Steelers debut this Sunday. They may very well need help at cornerback against the Bengals, but is it too much to ask of him? Samuel hasn’t played football in more than a year due to a serious injury, subsequently undergoing spinal fusion surgery. Even though many players return to play at a high level, the reality is he’s just getting back into football.
The Steelers are grateful to have Asante Samuel Jr. in the building, but what will they ask of him? Right now, he is only on the practice squad, and technically, he could sign with any other team. I don’t know what other offers he might have had elsewhere, so it’s unclear if his prior list of suitors would indicate a level of obviousness that the plan has always been for him to play.
It’s common for teams to sign in-season veterans and initially start the onboarding process on the practice squad. Technically, the Steelers could play Asante Samuel for weeks while keeping him there through standard elevations.
The real question is how soon they can expect him to play, and to what extent. Samuel hasn’t played since September of last year due to a major injury. He later had spinal fusion surgery and only recently began taking free agent visits. Were the Steelers the only team willing to take the chance on his health? It helps that they have ties to the doctor who performed his surgery.
If healthy and up to speed, Asante Samuel could provide quality coverage at the cornerback spot. He might not necessarily be the most complete football player on the field, but the Steelers could really use a cover guy for the Bengals this week. Even if he were fully conditioned, though, he’s still learning the defense, and that’s not automatic. They can simplify things, as they did for Kyle Dugger with success. But Dugger, at least, was in the league and playing games when he came over here. Samuel is starting over from scratch.
With regular season underway and the roster in place, it’s once again time to “take stock”. It took a while, but we finally saw some of thatchange the team talked about after the season ended. Certainly, the move to trade for WR DK Metcalf qualifies as a change, not to mention the accompanying contract. Oh, and they also traded some guy named George Pickens, which people found significant.
After a long offseason, we finally know what this Steelers team will look like for the 2025 season. The dust is long settled on both free agency andthe 2025 NFL Draft, and now we’re into the real thing . What final moves might the team make, if any? They’ve certainly made a flurry of moves, though some question whether they make much difference. This is a Steelers team starving for postseason success, but how desperate are they for a playoff win in 2025?
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