The Pittsburgh Steelers made a surprise roster move on Friday as running back Isaiah Pead has been waived and running back Fitzgerald Toussaint has been promoted from the practice squad to replace him on the team’s 53-man roster.
Pead hadn’t dressed for a game since he was signed by the Steelers after starting running back Le’Veon Bell was lost for the season several weeks ago to a knee injury.
As for Toussaint, who was originally signed by the Baltimore Ravens in 2014 as an undrafted rookie free agent out of Michigan, he has spent the entire 2015 season on the Steelers’ practice squad.
During his college career, Toussaint rushed for 2,290 yards and 28 touchdowns on 510 career carries. He also caught 31 passes for 298 yards during his time at Michigan.
It will now be interesting to see whether or not Toussaint gets a helmet Sunday against the Seattle Seahawks in order to help on special teams and serve as the No. 3 running back behind starter DeAngelo Williams and backup Jordan Todman.
It’s kind of curious that this transaction took place on a Friday as normally moves like this that are made late in the week happen on a Saturday. Perhaps the Ravens tried to sign Toussaint away after losing starter Justin Forsett for the remainder of the season to an injury last weekend.
Now that the Steelers have promoted Toussaint, they’ll need to fill the vacated practice squad spot and that could happen either Monday or Tuesday.
