Steelers Now
The Pittsburgh Steelers are bringing back another promising player to their running back room for the 2026 season.
The Pittsburgh Steelers have re-signed standout running back Lew Nichols to a reserve/future contract for the 2026 season, the team announced.
Nichols, 24, spent the majority of his 2025 season on the Steelers practice squad. He joined Pittsburgh in July but was later waived as part of the team’s final cuts down to 53 players. However, he cleared waivers and quickly re-signed to the practice squad.
Nichols had a very strong preseason for the club, rushing for 87 yards on 11 carries in three games (7.9 average) and catching five passes for 36 yards.
Nichols began his professional career as a a seventh-round pick of the Green Bay Packers out of Central Michigan in 2023, but he was released early in his rookie season after an injury.
He then caught on with the Philadelphia Eagles, bouncing on and off their active roster and practice squad all the way through the 2024 season, eventually winning a Super Bowl LIX ring as part of the team’s practice squad. He was released by the Eagles on July 22.
A 5-foot-10, 222-pound running back, Nichols led all of FBS in rushes and attempts as a redshirt freshman at Central Michigan in 2021, with 341 carries for 1,848 yards. He also led the MAC with 16 rushing touchdowns and 18 total touchdowns and was named the MAC Offensive Player of the Year as well as a fourth-team All-America selection.
He saw a significantly reduced workload in 2022 but still finished sixth on the Chippewas’ all-time rushing list with 3,061 yards, despite only playing in 32 games before turning professional.
Nichols is one of 13 players Pittsburgh signed to a reserve/future contract for next season.
The #Steelers have signed 13 players to reserve/future contracts for the 2026 season, almost all of which spent time on their practice squad this year:
WR Cole Burgess, John Rhys Plumlee, Max Hurleman
RB Lew Nichols
OL Steven Jones, Aiden Williams
DT Kyler Baugh, Anthony…— Alan Saunders (@ASaunders_PGH) January 14, 2026
This article originally appeared on Steelers Now: Steelers Re-Sign Former NCAA-Leading Running Back
