The Pittsburgh Steelers have signed more former XFL players than any other team in the league.
Wide receiver Saeed Blacknall became the sixth player inked to the Steelers from the now-defunct league on Monday.
Blacknall joins offensive tackle Jarron Jones, defensive tackle Cavon Walker, defensive tackle Dewayne Hendrix, safety Tyree Kinnel and long snapper/linebacker Christian Kuntz.
There will be more XFL players who sign NFL deals and get a look in training camp — so far there have been 15. When the Alliance of American Football folded in 2019, more than 50 players signed NFL contracts, but less than half ended up making a team’s roster or practice squad.
So, why are the Steelers attracted to the league’s former players?
Due to the scouting restrictions and challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, post-draft college free agency is going to be chaotic, which is partially why general manager Kevin Colbert was a proponent of expanding the 2020 NFL Draft by three rounds — a suggestion that was shot down by the NFL.
Colbert feels more comfortable in signing former XFL players because of access to medicals, game footage, and recent scouting reports.
“It was good that [XFL] players are made available to us because going through this draft as we are with some limited information, that could curtail some of the college free agents that we’re able to sign just on a knowledge of who they are type basis,” Colbert said in a recent Steelers Nation Unite Huddle.
“So, knowing these players a little bit better, we feel it was important to add as many as we thought could help us in terms of being competitive players for training camp.”
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