The Pittsburgh Steelers have signed rookie safety Jack Henderson to their practice squad, the team announced on Monday.
Henderson had been with the Carolina Panthers and Tampa Bay Buccaneers as an undrafted free agent out of Minnesota this season, and he'll replace on the Steelers a player that was poached by the Bucs.
Tampa signed undrafted rookie safety Sebastian Castro from the Pittsburgh practice squad last week, after which the Steelers hosted five safeties for tryouts. It just so happened that Henderson, the one they chose to sign, came to the team from the same place Castro departed to.
Henderson had been with the Tampa practice squad for the first month of the season, before being released on Sept. 23. He did not appear in a regular-season game with the Buccaneers.
Before that, Henderson played three preseason games for Carolina this offseason, including a Week 3 contest in Pittsburgh against the Steelers. While with the Panthers, Henderson split his playing time between in the box (22 snaps per PFF) and free safety (29 snaps).
Henderson tested strongly in the pre-draft process. The 6-foot-2, 203-pound safety ran a 4.52-second 40-yard dash and posted outstanding athleticism with a 39.5-inch vertical and a 10-foot-8 broad jump for an overall 9.37 Relative Athletic Score out of 10.
Jack Henderson — Kelly Hagenson / Minnesota Athletics
A native of Mandeville, Louisiana, Henderson played three seasons at Southeastern Louisiana before transferring to Minnesota in 2023. He started seven games in his first season with the Golden Gophers, but led the team with 59 tackles. He also had five tackles for loss, one sack two interception and a pass breakup.
In 2024, he made 12 starts and tied for the team lead with six sacks to go along with 44 tackles, nine tackles for loss, one pass breakup, one interception, one forced fumble and one fumble recovery. He also blocked a kick and was named an academic All-Big Ten.
With the signing of Henderson, the Steelers' 17-man practice squad is now full, but the club still has one vacancy on its 53-man active roster.
This article originally appeared on Steelers Now : Steelers Sign Hyper-Athletic Rookie Safety
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