Pittsburgh Steelers President Art Rooney II has confirmed that the team will not look to find Ben Roethlisberger’s successor in the 2016 draft, but did admit that the slots below Roethlisberger on the depth chart do need to be settled. Mike Vick and Bruce Gradkowski are both free agents, while Landry Jones has one year remaining on his rookie deal.
- One man who won’t be in the mix is Tyler Murphy:
We have signed wide receiver Tyler Murphy to a reserve/future contract.
— Miami Dolphins (@MiamiDolphins) January 28, 2016
The Miami Dolphins signed former Steelers WR/QB Tyler Murphy to a futures contract, effectively ending the Steelers “slash” experiment with Murphy, who was listed as a wide receiver, but got reps at quarterback during training camp and in practice during the 2015 season.
The Steelers thought enough of Murphy’s potential as an emergency 3rd quarterback keep him on the active roster until early November, when they waived Murphy to make room for Doran Grant. They resigned Murphy to the practice squad but signaled their intentions regarding his future as a quarterback last week when the signed former Dallas Cowboys third string quarterback Dustin Vaughan to a futures contract.
- On paper, at least, Murphy still had a shot at securing a slot on the Steelers wide receivers depth chart.
Heading into 2016, Antonio Brown, Martavis Bryant, Markus Wheaton, and Sammie Coates have the first four slots locked up, but Darrius Heyward-Bey is a free agent who could draw interest.
But the Steelers apparently did not see Murphy is a viable option for their 5th wide receiver slot. For the record, Tyler Murphy had one catch on one target for 16 yards in the Steelers season opening loss to the New England Patriots.
Tyler Murphy played his college ball at Boston College, where he started at quarterback. But like Antwaan Randle El and so many before him, he will making it in the NFL means making the transition to wide receiver.
