The Steelers signed center Justin Hartwig to a three-year contract extension on Tuesday according to his agent Drew Rosenhaus via his Twitter page. The Steelers have a policy of not negotiating contracts during the season so this will likely be the last contract done. Hartwig is now under contract through the 2012 season. It is a $10 million contract which includes a $2.1 million signing bonus.

The Steelers signed defensive back Tuff Harris to the practice squad this morning. Harris was released by the Tennessee Titans on Saturday. Harris is a former University of Montana player and appeared in six games last season for the Titans. The Steelers practice squad is now at the maximum eight players. Read more [...]

The Carolina Panthers made a last minute claim of Steelers rookie defensive end Ra'Shon Harris on Sunday. Harris will now be a member of the Panthers 53 man roster, but will likely be inactive on Sunday versus the Philadelphia Eagles. Harris was drafted in the 6th round and 205th overall pick. He had rough start in camp after suffering a groin injury, but recovered quickly to see time in all 4 Steelers pre-season games. Harris was set to join the Steelers practice squad on Sunday when he got the news. Harris left the locker room and is now on his way to North Carolina to join his new team.

EDITED: IT HAS SINCE BEEN ANNOUNCED THAT RA'SHON HARRIS WAS CLAIMED LAST MINUTE BY CAROLINA. The Steelers signed seven players to the practice squad on Sunday. They include one 2009 draft pick in the form of center A.Q. Shipley. Also signed was training camp sensations, running back Isaac Redman, wide receiver Tyler Grisham and defenseive tackle Steve McLendon. Three 2008 practice squad players were brought back as well, with linebacker Donovan Woods, running back Justin Vincent and tight end Dezmond Sherrod signed to the squad. Steelers Practice Squad RB Isaac Redman LB Donovan Woods C Read more [...]

The roster cuts are starting to leak out. We will update this list through the afternoon as the Steelers cut to 53 players. The official list will not be released until later on Saturday. THESE ARE NOW OFFICIAL! C A. Q. Shipley T Jason Capizzi FB Carey Davis (injury settlement) RB Isaac Redman DT Scott Paxson CB Anthony Madison K Piotr Czech LB Tom Korte LB Andrew Schantz QB Mike Reilly LB Bruce Davis RB Justin Vincent WR Dallas Baker WR Tyler Grisham WR Brandon Williams DE Ra'Shon Harris TE Dezmond Sherrod LB Donovan Woods DT Steve McLendon CB Roy Lewis T Jeremy Parquet TE Read more [...]

The Steelers signed defensive end Brett Keisel to a five-year contract extension on Monday. Keisel becomes the eighth player to reach a new deal with the Pittsburgh since they won the Super Bowl in February. Details of the contract should be available soon.

The Steelers released center Alex Stepanovich, wide receiver Martin Nance, wide receiver Steven Black and safety Derrick Richardson on Monday and placed offensive lineman Darnell Stapleton on injured reserve, thus ending his season. Stapleton had arthroscopic surgery to on his knee a few weeks ago and the knee will likely need further work and rehab. Stepanovich had been signed to give depth at the center position during training camp and was never considered a serious canidate for a roster spot. Nance was a former practice squad player of the Steelers and both Black and Richardson were undrafted Read more [...]

The Steelers signed veteran center Alex Stepanovich on Monday and released defensive end Jordan Reffett. Stepanovich is a six-year veteran who played for the Atlanta Falcons last season. The Steelers are thin at the center position with Justin Hartwig still recovering from a toe injury and Darnell Stapleton recovering from exploratory knee surgery. Stepanovich will back up both Doug Legursky and A.Q. Shipley. Stepanovich will wear number 67.

Steelers running back Stefan Logan was activated from PUP list this morning according to Jim Wexell and is practicing in the Monday morning session. Logan was recovering from a mild foot sprain that was limiting his ability to cut. Logan is an undrafted free agent from the CFL league where he played for the B.C. Lions.

The Steelers nailed down an important upcoming free agent on Wednesday night as tight end Heath Miller agreed to a new six-year contract. The new deal ensures he will be under contract until the 2014 season. Miller was about to enter the final season of the contract he signed in 2005 as a rookie. The 2010 season is on schedule to be an uncapped year meaning Miller would have qualified to be a restricted free agent at the end of this season. If he made it to that point, the Steelers would of needed to tender him a high offer to keep in another year. Miller goes into the 2009 season having started Read more [...]

First round draft pick, Evander Ziggy Hood, agreed to a contract on Saturday with the Steelers. The deal is rumored to be a five year contract with 6 million in guarantees. This now means the Steelers will have all 9 draft picks signed and ready for the start of camp next week. At the time, Hood was only the fourth 2009 first round pick to agree to terms. Hood is expected to make it official when he arrives for camp next week. We will post the official contract numbers when they are released in a week or so.

The Steelers signed rookie offensive lineman, Kraig Urbik, to a three year contract on Monday. Urbik was the first of three third round draft picks selected by the Steelers in the 2009 NFL draft. The Steelers now have 8 of 9 draft picks signed with only first round pick, Ziggy Hood, unsigned.

Steelers cornerback Fernando Bryant announced his retirement on Tuesday following a lengthy and well traveled, 10-year NFL career. The 32 year old Bryant had signed with the Steelers on Nov. 11, 2008. Bryant was originally drafted by the Jacksonville Jaguars with the 26th overall pick in the 1999 NFL draft and he became only the second Jaguar to start every game as a rookie. He went on to play for the Detroit Lions in a career that saw him start 109 of 112 games played.

The Steelers signed veteran offensive tackle Max Starks to a new four-year contract on Tuesday that will keep him with the Steelers through 2012. Financial terms of the contract were not officially released, but it is rumored to be a $26.3 million, four-year contract, according to a source. Included in the deal is $10 million in guaranteed money, the source said. We will have the official numbers to pass along in a few days.

The Steelers signed tight end David Johnson to a three-year contract on Friday. Johnson was the final pick the Steelers made in the NFL draft. This leaves the Steelers with only two unsigned draft picks, defensive lineman, Ziggy Wood and offensive lineman, Kraig Urbik. Below are the base contract numbers for Johnson.

David Johnson
2009 310000.00
2010 395000.00
2011 480000.00

The Steelers officially released six players on Thursday. Released were defensive end Jeff Bradley, long-snapper Mark Estermyer, wide receiver Jayson Foster, wide receiver Cedric Goodman, quarterback Kevin McCabe and fullback Ryan Powdrell. This brings the roster number down to 81 at the time. The Steelers will need to release 1 more player to get to the 80 limit by training camp. This will likely happen when either Ziggy Wood, Kraig Urbik or David Johnson officially sign.

The Steelers signed three more draft picks on Thursday. Signed were wide receiver Mike Wallace, defensive lineman Sonny Harris and center A.Q. Shipley. All three were signed to three year contracts. Below are the contract numbers:

Mike Wallace
2009 310000.00
2010 395000.00
2011 480000.00
Signing Bonus 555000.00

Sonny Harris
2009 310000.00
2010 395000.00
2011 480000.00
Signing Bonus 64000.00

A.Q. Shipley
2009 310000.00
2010 395000.00
2011 480000.00
Signing Bonus 42000.00

The Steelers cut long snapper Mark Estermyer this morning, meaning that veteran Greg Warren is likely 100% recovered from his injury last year. Warren is currently the only long snapper on the roster going into training camp. Head coach Mike Tomlin seems to be worried about the conditioning of nose tackle Casey Hampton again going into training camp. On the flip side, it seems rookie Ziggy Hood is learning fast. He is currently playing the outside end spot. Speaking of Hood, Mike Wilkening of Pro Football Weekly, sees Hood's biggest impact may come on passing downs. This will indeed help Read more [...]

The Steelers signed three of its 2009 draft picks on Friday. Cornerback Keenan Lewis, cornerback Joe Burnett and running back Frank Summers all signed three-year contracts. The Steelers also released punter Dirk Johnson on Friday. Financial terms of the three-year contracts for the draft picks were not released, but we should have the base salary numbers in a few days.

The Steelers released linebacker Larry Foote on Monday per his request. Foote was going into the final year of his contract, but was unhappy after being informed that he would not be starting this season. "Larry has been a big part of our success, but unfortunately the realities of the salary cap made this decision inevitable," Kevin Colbert, the Steelers' director of football operations, said in a statement. "We wish Larry and his family nothing but the best as he moves forward with his career."

The release will save the Steelers $2,885,000.00 against the 2009 salary cap.