The Pittsburgh Steelers had high expectations for cornerback Cory Trice last training camp despite the fact he was a seventh-round pick in the 2023 NFL draft. But a torn ACL ruled him out for the entire 2023 season. A similar occurrence has now happened for the Steelers secondary involving veteran Grayland Arnold.
The former undrafted free agent began taking snaps with Pittsburgh’s first-team defense on August 11. But he now may not take any snaps throughout the entire 2024 season.
The Steelers announced on August 15 that they placed Arnold on injured reserve with a calf injury. He suffered the ailment at practice the day prior.
Penn Live’s Nick Farabaugh reported unless Arnold is removed from IR with an injury settlement, he will be out for the season.
Arnold was entering his fifth season in the NFL. Last year, he played eight games for the Houston Texans, splitting his snaps on defense and special teams.
To replace Arnold on the roster, the Steelers also announced signing cornerback Kiondre Thomas. He began his career as an undrafted free agent as well for the Cleveland Browns in 2021.
Last season, Thomas played one game for the Green Bay Packers.
Steelers’ Grayson Arnold Suffers ‘Tough Break’
Arnold landed on injured reserve roughly two hours after The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s Ray Fittipaldo hyped the veteran cornerback. Fittipaldo suggested Arnold had “good odds” to make Pittsburgh’s Week 1 roster after he opened training camp as “a long shot” to be on the team.
“He took reps with the starters this week after Beanie Bishop ran with the starters since camp opened,” Fittipaldo wrote. “I know it has more to do with Cam Sutton’s suspension than anything else, but it’s a thin position and Arnold and Bishop appear to have shots to make the roster unless they make a trade or scour the waiver wire in a few weeks.”
Other Steelers insiders also viewed Arnold favorably and considered his injury quite unfortunate.
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s Brian Batko described the injury as a “tough break.”
Arnold began his career as an undrafted free agent for the Philadelphia Eagles in 2020. He played six games that season and even started one contest. Arnold then played for the Texans from 2021-23.
This training camp, he was competing with undrafted rookie Beanie Bishop Jr. for the starting role at nickel cornerback. Veteran Cameron Sutton should see a majority of the snaps in the slot for Pittsburgh’s defense, but Sutton will serve a suspension for the first eight games of the season.
The Athletic’s Mike DeFabo wrote Bishop “now has the inside track” to be the Steelers nickel cornerback to begin the regular season.
Steelers Add CB Kiondre Thomas
Thomas spent his first training camp with the Browns but made his NFL regular season debut with the Los Angeles Chargers in 2021. However, he’s never played a snap on defense during the regular season.
Last year, he appeared on the field for 11 special teams snaps in his lone game for the Packers. In five career NFL games, he’s made 1 combined tackle.
Donte Jackson and Joey Porter Jr. are projected to start at cornerback for the Steelers this season. As previously mentioned, Bishop is now the front runner in the slot.
In addition to Thomas, the Steelers also have Trice, Darius Rush, Thomas Graham, Anthony Averett, Zyon Gilbert and Kyler McMichael on the depth chart at cornerback.
