The Pittsburgh Steelers have signed wide receiver Ben Skowronek to their 53-man roster, according to the NFL transactions report for Tuesday.
Skowronek played one each of the team’s first two games while being elevated from the practice squad. He could have played one more game as a practice squad elevation, but the team decided to fully promote him to the 53-man roster.
The Steelers have not officially announced the transaction, nor have they announced the reported practice squad signing of wide receiver Jaray Jenkins. Those two moves will put the Steelers at the maximum of 53 players on the active roster and 17 on the practice squad.
Space for Skowronek on the active roster was created when the Steelers placed linebacker Tyler Matakevich on the injured reserve list on Tuesday.
Head coach Mike Tomlin said on Tuesday that Skowronek is dealing with some shoulder discomfort. His status for this week’s game against the Los Angeles Chargers is unknown.
The Steelers signed Skowronek to their practice squad on Aug. 30 after he had been released by the Houston Texans. The 27-year-old is in his fourth NFL season, having spent the previous three with the Los Angeles Rams. He was traded along with a seventh-round pick in the 2025 NFL Draft to the Houston Texans for a sixth-round pick in May, but he was unable to crack a loaded wide receivers room in Houston and was released.
A seventh-round pick of the Rams out of Notre Dame in the 2021 NFL Draft, the 6-foot-3, 224-pound Skowronek spent three seasons in L.A., winning a Super Bowl at the end of the 2021 season. He best statistical campaign came in 2022, when Skowronek caught 39 passes for 376 yards while making 11 starts.
This season with the Steelers, he played 11 snaps, in the season opener against the Atlanta Falcons. They all came on special teams, where he worked as a punt gunner and on both kickoff coverage and return teams.
Last week in Denver, he played 12 snaps of special teams over four phases and recorded his first tackle with the Steelers. He also played six snaps of wide receiver, without receiving a target.
Skowronek will become the sixth wide receiver on the 53-man roster , joining George Pickens, Van Jefferson, Roman Wilson, Calvin Austin III and Scotty Miller.
