Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Cole Burgess has cleared waivers, and will now revert to the injured reserve list, according to the NFL transactions page for Wednesday.
Burgess was waived with an injury settlement on Tuesday after he suffered an apparent knee injury during a team period early in Monday's fifth practice session of training camp — the first padded session of the year. His injury snapped a streak of four apparently injury-free practices to start training camp under Mike McCarthy.
He was evaluated by the team's training staff on the sideline and then taken from the field on a cart. Players being carted off from Chuck Noll Field at training camp does not always equate to a serious injury, as the training facility is a long, uphill walk from the sideline.
Since Burgess is going on the injured reserve list before the Aug. 30 cut-down date, his 2026 season will be over, unless he reaches an injury settlement with the team.
After Burgess was released, the Steelers signed free agent wide receiver Jakobie Keeney-James.
Cole Burgess, Cortland State Athletics
Burgess, 26, signed a reserve/future contract with the team in January after first trying out for the club last November.
Burgess was an undrafted free agent of the Cincinnati Bengals in 2024. He spent his rookie season on the Cincinnati practice squad, and re-signed with the Bengals for 2025, but was released last August. He played in two preseason games as a rookie and three last past summer, without recording any statistics.
The 6-foot, 192-pound Burgess posted outstanding athletic testing numbers coming out of Division III Cortland (N.Y.) State. He ran a 4.45-second 40-yard dash, posted a 6.72-second three-cone drill and had a 41.5-inch vertical for an overall 9.80 Relative Athletic Score out of 10.
Burgess spent six seasons with the Red Dragons, but played only four. His best season came as a sixth-year senior in 2023, when he caught 87 passes for 1,375 yards and 16 touchdowns. He also had three career kickoff returns for a touchdown and a 25-yard per return average.
The post Steelers WR Clears Waivers, Reverts to Injured Reserve appeared first on Steelers Now .
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