It came as a shock to many in Steelers Nation when the team announced that it had waived Beanie Bishop Jr. at roster cutdowns. Undrafted out of West Virginia last year, Bishop became one of the more highly touted undrafted rookies in recent years. Now, he is waiting to see where his next NFL stop is after just one season.
This seems like a messy situation from top to bottom for both sides.
The six-game starter played nearly half of the defensive snaps last season. His most notable claim to fame was his interceptions, as he recorded four and was among the top of the team in that category.
Going from there to roster cut seems like a tough fall from grace. That said, when you follow how this team has treated Bishop, his release shouldn’t be that shocking.
The Pittsburgh Steelers failed Beanie Bishop Jr.
While getting anything out of an undrafted rookie is always a positive, Bishop was a beneficiary of a lack of competition, not his talent.
Last year, the Steelers kept their tradition of largely ignoring the slot defender role. Cam Sutton was brought in to play after his suspension, and the rest of the depth chart featured names that had mostly failed to stick to the other team’s rosters.
Bishop “won” that competition, but it was half due to the fact that he was the last healthy player on the depth chart. Pittsburgh didn’t have any other in-house options, so they rolled with Bishop to start the year.
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His four interceptions are noteworthy, but his overall play was pretty inconsistent. The hope is that he would grow and get better as a starter, but his rookie season sans the interceptions was average at best.
It seemed like Bishop had the inside track to start this year, as only Brandon Echols and Donte Kent were initially brought in as competition. Then, the Steelers added Jalen Ramsey, and everything turned upside down.
Suddenly, Bishop was falling down the depth chart and struggling to find playing time. This culminated in him not playing in the final preseason game despite appearing healthy and, a few days later, getting waived.
So, what does this mean? My guess is that Bishop was a little peeved about how the team was treating him after an average rookie season. Perhaps he was getting shopped around, or maybe he wanted to preserve his own health as a future free agent, so he didn’t risk injury against the Panthers.
Could Bishop circle back to the Steelers? Absolutely. Do I think it is likely? Not really.
Kent seems like a safe bet to go to injured reserve (as will Will Howard). More than likely, at least one more cornerback will be brought back. Bishop could be that name, but having two years left on his initial rookie contract, he didn’t make sense as a cut-and-then-resign candidate. James Pierre seems far more likely to get the nod of the two.
He could sign with the practice squad, but I would imagine both sides want a clear break from each other. The slot room is now deep in Pittsburgh, and Bishop believes he can start somewhere else.
The Pittsburgh Steelers showed little faith in Bishop last year as they turned to Sutton after his suspension. Now, he is off the team entirely. It was a drastic 180-degree turn, but it seems clear as day that Pittsburgh never saw Bishop in their long-term plans. That’s a shame, considering the potential he showed as a rookie.