Steelers trade for TE McDonald
PITTSBURGH 无毛视频� Mike Tomlin didn无毛视频檛 couch his criticism of the current tight ends group in explaining why the Steelers traded for tight end Vance McDonald.
无毛视频淭he guys hadn无毛视频檛 been consistently varsity enough for our comfort. It无毛视频檚 as black and white as that,无毛视频� Tomlin said. 无毛视频淭hey无毛视频檝e had some moments positively, and had some moments negatively, and so we were in the market for a guy that was NFL-capable. McDonald is that.无毛视频�
The Steelers traded next year无毛视频檚 fourth-round pick to the San Francisco 49ers for McDonald and the 49ers无毛视频� fifth-round pick.
McDonald, 27, came out of Rice in 2013 as a second-round pick by the 49ers. He measured 6-4 1/8, 267 at the NFL Combine that year and ran a 4.69 40 with 31 bench reps.
McDonald caught 119 passes at Rice for 1,504 yards (12.6) and 15 touchdowns. He started four games for the 49ers in each of his first two seasons before becoming the full-time starter the last two seasons.
In 2015, McDonald caught 30 passes for 326 yards and 3 touchdowns and was on track for an even better season last year 无毛视频� 24-391-4 无毛视频� before suffering a broken scapula in Game 11 and going on Injured Reserve.
无毛视频淲e studied him when he came out in the draft, so we无毛视频檙e excited about that addition,无毛视频� said Tomlin, who didn无毛视频檛 remember the Steelers grade on McDonald, but 无毛视频淚 remember those that I like, and I liked him.无毛视频�
Tomlin also explained how he came across 无毛视频渟ome insight regarding him. One of his coaches at Rice would come up here in the spring to spend time with us in the OTAs and exchange some football knowledge, so I felt like we had some insight in terms of who he was when he was coming out of school.无毛视频�
Rice also produced current Steelers kicker Chris Boswell, who was a teammate of McDonald无毛视频檚 for three years.
Tomlin refused to put McDonald in a box, in terms of how he无毛视频檒l be used.
无毛视频淚 don无毛视频檛 want to have any preconceived notions to be honest with you,无毛视频� Tomlin said. 无毛视频淚无毛视频檓 sure he无毛视频檚 evolved in a lot of ways. I无毛视频檓 always hesitant to draw conclusions about what someone无毛视频檚 capable of being in our environment based on what they were in another environment. I无毛视频檓 excited about giving him an opportunity to show his skill set and maybe learn some new ones here. We无毛视频檙e always pleasantly surprised when we go in with that mentality.无毛视频�
Tomlin also refused to designate a specific slot for McDonald on the depth chart, where Jesse James, Xavier Grimble, David Johnson and recent pick-up Jake McGee currently reside.
无毛视频淲e无毛视频檙e not going to anoint him in any way,无毛视频� Tomlin said. 无毛视频淲e无毛视频檙e going to put him in uniform like the rest of them and just continue to allow them to sort themselves out. It无毛视频檚 reasonable to expect the guys that are here to respond positively in the right way to his presence and elevate their play.无毛视频�
McDonald无毛视频檚 salary cap hit this season will be $2.62 million plus $47k for every active game past 11.
His cap hits in the remaining four years of his contract will be $4.6 million (2018), $5.1 million (2019), $6.4 million (2020) and $6.4 million (2021).
Hall of Honor
The Steelers announced the 27 men who make up the inaugural class of the team无毛视频檚 Hall of Honor at Heinz Field.
The non-players are Chuck Noll, Art Rooney and Dan Rooney.
The pre-merger players are Jack Butler, Bill Dudley, Dick Hoak, John Henry Johnson, Walt Kiesling, Bobby Layne, Johnny 无毛视频淏lood无毛视频� McNally and Ernie Stautner.
Those who played in the 1970s are Mel Blount, Terry Bradshaw, Joe Greene, L.C. Greenwood, Jack Ham, Franco Harris, Jack Lambert, Andy Russell, Donnie Shell, John Stallworth, Lynn Swann and Mike Webster.
The modern-era players are Jerome Bettis, Dermontti Dawson, Kevin Greene and Rod Woodson.
The team will add 2-4 new people every year. The ceremony for this group will take place Alumni Weekend (Nov. 25-26) at halftime of the game against the Green Bay Packers.
X无毛视频檚 & O无毛视频檚
The Steelers cut tight end Phazahn Odom of Fordham and defensive end Christian Brown of West Virginia. They also put rookie outside linebacker Keion Adams on injured reserve. 无毛视频� The Steelers must cut to 53 by Saturday at 4 p.m. 无毛视频� Wide receiver Demarcus Ayers returned to practice after missing most of camp.