Steelers Now
PITTSBURGH — A lot of people were surprised when the Pittsburgh Steelers released cornerback Beanie Bishop last week as part of the team’s final cut-down to 53 players.
Bishop was not among that number. After the team traded for Jalen Ramsey in the offseason and gave free agent Brandin Echols an expanded role during training camp that included Bishop’s usual stomping grounds of slot cornerback, he saw the writing on the wall when it came to cut-down time.
So surprise was not the emotion that Bishop was feeling when his name went across — and then straight through — the NFL wavier wire.
“I wasn’t surprised at all,” Bishop said on Monday. “I’m pissed.”
It wasn’t just that the Steelers decided to cut him loose that has Bishop heated. He understood the business aspect of their decision, and recognized the talent brought in. It was that none of the other 31 NFL teams wanted to take a shot on him, either, that really had Bishop steamed.
“There was teams that could have got me that obviously passed, so it just added more fuel,” Bishop said. “So I’m essentially set the league on fire, bro, whenever I get to play again. So that’s just how I look at it, just add more motivation, fuel to the fire, so.”
But despite clearing waivers and having a free and clear license to continue elsewhere — maybe somewhere that doesn’t have a slot cornerback making $21.2 million per season — Bishop ended up right back in the same place in Pittsburgh, re-signing with the Steelers practice squad.
“Once I cleared waivers, I was excited to be back. … I obviously know the opportunity I have here,” he said. “It’s a business at the end of the day, with financial portions of the game and the business — you bring a guy in, Jalen’s a great player, they’re going to get their money’s worth out of him.”
In Ramsey, Bishop didn’t just find a veteran that is taking his roster spot, but also the key to unlocking his own personal value. The Steelers will be playing Ramsey at slot cornerback and at safety. He’s spent most of his career at outside cornerback. The ability to do different things created the value the Steelers saw in him — enough value to trade away an All-Pro player in Minkah Fitzpatrick to get him.
Bishop knows he needs to create that kind of value for himself, and he thinks being on the practice squad is an opportunity to do that.
“I’m looked at as a slot guy, even though I played different positions and I can play different positions, so there wasn’t really room for me outside of, you know, playing in the slot,” Bishop said. “Going against the ones on offense and getting reps at different positions, I’m not limited to just playing in the slot. So I feel like that’s gonna be a good thing for me to be able to show coaches that I can...
