The Pittsburgh Steelers have signed veteran offensive tackle David Sharpe to their practice squad, the team announced on Wednesday.
Sharpe, 30, had tried out with the team last week. His signing comes as the Steelers are dealing with injuries to their top three options at left tackle.
Starter Broderick Jones is on injured reserve and is out at least two more with a neck injury suffered during the Steelers' Week 12 loss to the Chicago Bears .
Swing tackle Calvin Anderson , who replaced Jones after he was injured in Chicago, missed last week's win over the Baltimore Ravens with a knee injury suffered in practice and was placed on the injured reserve list on Wednesday.
Veteran backup Andrus Peat, who started in place of Jones the last two weeks is in the concussion protocol after leaving the Baltimore game with a suspected head injury.
That leaves Dylan Cook , who was signed from the practice squad to the 53-man roster on Wednesday as the last natural tackle on the roster, along with starting right tackle Troy Fautanu .
Backups Spencer Anderson and Steven Jones have both played some tackle in the past, though primarily on the right side.
Sharpe had been with the Los Angels Chargers practice squad for most of this season, but was released on Dec. 2. Before that, he spent time with the New York Jets , Houston Texans , Carolina Panthers , Baltimore Ravens, Washington Football Team and Oakland Raiders.
The 6-foot-6, 343-pound Sharpe was a fourth-round pick of the Raiders out of Florida in the 2017 NFL Draft. He started two games as a rookie in 2017, but was waived coming out of the preseason in 2018 and signed by the Texans. After appearing in two games with Houston, he was again waived and claimed by the Raiders, where he appeared in 17 games and made two more starts between the 2018 and 2019 seasons.
In 2020, the Raiders traded Sharpe and a seventh-round draft pick to Washington for a sixth-round pick. He played in 10 games and made two starts with Washington, but was waived after training camp in 2021.
Sharpe appeared in three games for the Ravens in 2021, eight for the Panthers in 2023 and one with the Chargers this year, without making a start. Of his career 662 snaps, 499 have come at right tackle, 131 at left tackle and 32 as a sixth offensive lineman.
David Sharpe — Tim Casey / Florida Athletics
A Jacksonville, Florida native, Sharpe attended Duncan U. Fletcher high school in Neptune Beach, where he was an All-American Bowl selection and also played basketball. With the Gators, he started at left tackle as a true sophomore in his second year and declared for the NFL Draft after starting every game of his junior season.
In addition to signing Sharpe and promoting Cook, the Steelers also released veteran running back Trey Sermon from their practice squad, leaving them with one vacant slot. Their 53-man roster is full.
This article originally appeared on Steelers Now : Steelers Sign Massive Offensive Tackle after Rash of Injuries
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