Five players, including a few who were on the practice squad in 2023, were signed by the Steelers to Reserve/Future contracts today.
Defense back Josiah Scott, defensive back Thomas Graham, linebackers Tyler Murray, David Perales, and defensive back Kalon Barnes were all signed by the team.
Prior to the Steelers’ 2023 season opener against the Cleveland Browns in Week 2, Barnes signed a contract to join the practice squad. In the final roster cutdown, Barnes was released by the Carolina Panthers, who had initially selected him in the seventh round of the 2022 NFL Draft. Before being added to the Minnesota Vikings 53-man roster in mid-December of 2022, he was a member of the Miami Dolphins practice squad for the duration of the season. During his final season as a collegiate football player at Baylor University, he started ten games, finished with 23 tackles, five pass breakups, an interception, and a fumble recovery. Three interceptions, fourteen passes defensed, two and a half tackles for a loss, and a touchdown were his final statistics at Baylor.
In the sixth round of the 2021 NFL Draft, Graham was selected by the Chicago Bears. He made 13 tackles and four passes defensed in four games for the Bears. He was a member of the Bears practice squad as well. Early in the 2022 season, he was signed by the Cleveland Browns from the Bears practice squad. With 182 tackles, 10.5 tackles for a loss, eight interceptions, 40 passes defensed, a forced fumble, and a fumble recovery at the end of his career, he was a player at the University of Oregon.
In November, Murray had a brief stint with the Steelers practice squad. During his tenure at Amazon, he was a signatory to it. After the 2023 NFL Draft, he signed an undrafted free agent contract with the Cincinnati Bengals. This season, he was a brief member of the Bengals practice squad. In 2022, Murray attended Memphis to play collegiate football, starting all 13 games. In addition to 67 tackles, he also had two interceptions, three quarterback hurries, six tackles for a loss, and two passes defensed. He was chosen for the third team of the preseason All-AAC (Phil Steele). He played at Charlotte prior to Memphis, where he started all 18 of his games. He was selected twice for the Honorable Mention All-Conference USA team.
After the 2023 NFL Draft, Perales was signed by the Steelers as an undrafted free agent, then at the beginning of the regular season, he was added to the practice squad. Throughout the 2023 season, he was on and off the practice squad. Perales attended Fresno State to play collegiate football, where he concluded his career with 22.5 sacks—the sixth-highest total in school history. Finished 2022 with a career-high 11.5 sacks and 16 tackles for a loss, he started 13 of 14 games. Perales had five passes defensed, one interception, and two forced fumbles. In terms of sacks, he was ninth in the FBS. He began his college career at Sacramento State and then transferred to Fresno State.
Throughout the 2023 season, Scott was a member of the Steelers practice squad and injured list. He previously played in 29 games, starting four, with the Philadelphia Eagles during the 2021–2022 seasons. He started four games in 2022 and totaled 24 tackles, 17 of which were solo stops, two tackles for a loss, and two interceptions. After being selected by the Jacksonville Jaguars in the fourth round of the 2020 NFL Draft, Scott started his career with them. He participated in six games during his rookie campaign and recorded 11 tackles. In the offseason of 2021, the Jaguars traded him to the Eagles. At Michigan State, where he played collegiate football, Scott amassed 98 tackles, 32 passes defensed, two forced fumbles, and one fumble recovery in 30 games.
