Moves You May Have Forgotten About

The long and tedious NFL offseason has a way of letting us forget what's happened. "Did that one guy re-sign? Or wait, he went somewhere else. Who's that guy? Wait, they signed him?" With such huge gaps in the tidbits of football news throughout spring and summer, we all forget some kminor roster moves here and there.

 

As players report to Latrobe for training camp, here's a rundown of the roster moves you might have forgotten about:

 

Matt Spaeth has been unremarkable throughout his career. He was a backup TE in Pittsburgh, then went to Chicago to be a backup TE, and he's back in Pittsburgh to be a backup TE. He'll likely get a lot of early work as Heath Miller is still rehabbing a knee injury.

 

Brian Moorman, the longtime veteran punter of the Buffalo Bills, played a stint in Dallas last year and was signed to compete with Drew Butler for the Steelers' punting job. Given that Butler basically inherited the job as a rookie when Jeremy Kapinos got hurt, Moorman will be his first actual competition for the job. I wanted to include a Youtube of a TD pass he threw to a defensive lineman here, but the NFL is really awful about having highlights on Youtube even though their website's entire video system is a jumbled and non-navigable mess.

 

Guy Whimper, formerly of the Jacksonville Jaguars and known mostly for having a pretty bad last name, was signed by the Steelers to provide some OL depth in camp. He hasn't had a stellar career but he'll try to make the opening day roster and prove he can play in the NFL.

 

The Steelers have maintained their quota of hometown quarterbacks holding a clipboard for the team they grew up watching (the quota is one) as Bruce Gradkowski is slotted in behind Ben Roethlisberger on the depth chart.

 

The final holdover from that abysmal 2008 draft finally moved on, as Ryan Mundy signed a free agent deal with the New York Giants. Rookie Shamarko Thomas will look to replace him on the depth chart.

 

The point-man of Dick LeBeau's defense, Casey "Big Snack" Hampton is no longer with the organization as age and a frankly terrifying body type have left the nose tackle without a job this August. Steve McLendon, who has looked good in limited appearances, is the heir-apparent at the position and will take up the duty of being enormous at offensive linemen.

 

Lewis left for his hometown New Orleans Saints in free agency and the Steelers addressed their lack of depth at corner by re-acquiring William Gay. He'll have to earn his playing time with some younger guys on his heels, but competition is what every coaching staff wants.

 

…by the Colts on Thursday. News of his departure totally slipped past me, but the Steelers actually released him last October and he was recently suspended 8 games for violating the league's substance abuse policy. This is disappointing, because it means a sharp decrease in Mr. Butlertron appearances on Blitzburgh in the future.

 

Oh, Wesley.