Steelers Now
The Pittsburgh Steelers have signed wide receiver Brandon Smith to a reserve/future contract for the 2026 season, the team announced on Thursday.
Smith, 27, is entering his sixth professional season. He has played three games in his career, all with the New York Jets, over the last two seasons.
Smith first joined the Dallas Cowboys as an undrafted free agent out of Iowa in 2001, and spent the first two seasons of his career on the Dallas practice squad, without appearing in a game.
In the spring of 2023, he joined the DC Defenders of the XFL. He played in six games and made eight catches for 118 yards and one touchdown. The following summer, he signed with the Arizona Cardinals, but was waived coming out of training camp and was not on an NFL roster for the fall season.
Back with DC the following spring, now in the UFL, Smith played in nine game and made 18 catches for 208 yards and two scores.
After review, the TD is confirmed and @XFLDefenders take the lead! 🛡️😤 pic.twitter.com/XdSIPaEiiJ
— United Football League (@TheUFL) April 13, 2024
That performance caught the eye of the Jets, who signed him that August. He spent the entire 2024 season on the New York practice squad, and was elevated for one game, making his NFL debut. He re-signed with the Jets for 2025, and had a two-game stint on the active roster.
Smith was cut by the Jets on Dec. 2 and finished the season on the New England Patriots practice squad.
A Lake Cormorant, Mississippi native, Smith was a three-year starter at Iowa, but put up pedestrian numbers in the Hawkeyes’ conservative offensive scheme. His biggest statistical season came as a junior in 2019, when he caught 37 passes for 439 yards and five touchdowns.
A 6-foot-1, 218-pound receiver, Smith ran poorly in pre-draft testing, posting a 4.64-second 40-yard dash, but showed elite explosiveness, with a 39.5-inch vertical jump and a 10-foot-10 broad jump, for an overall Relative Athletic Score of 9.16 of out 10.
After playing mostly in the slot as a rookie with the Cowboys in 2021, Smith has mostly played outside receiver during his NFL preseason action and in his two years playing spring football.
Smith is the fourth wide receiver to sign a future contract with the Steelers for the 2026 season, joining Max Hurleman, John Rhys Plumlee, and Cole Burgess.
This article originally appeared on Steelers Now: Steelers Sign Explosive Wide Receiver for 2026
