Pittsburgh Steelers announce 17 players signed to Reserve/Future contracts

The Pittsburgh Steelers have inked a slew of players to something called a Reserve/Future contract, essentially guaranteeing these guys open the 2024 season as members of the Steelers.

Most of the players are Pittsburgh practice squad members from throughout this past season, or in other cases, practice squad players from another team. You’re not likely to recognize most of the names on the list, but they’ll be the ones filling out the back end of the full 90-man roster (including the practice squad) when training camp gets started this summer.

So below, you can view the full list of players the Steelers have signed to Reserve/Future contracts and even read a little more in-depth about what these contracts really are further down.

Steelers’ 17 Reserve/Future contracts

• CB Luq Barcoo
• OT Tyler Beach
• WR Marquez Callaway
• FB Jack Colletto
• OT Kellen Diesch
• S Jalen Elliott
• OG Joey Fisher
• WR Dez Fitzpatrick
• OT Devery Hamilton
• OT Anderson Hardy
• WR Keilahn Harris
• DL Jonathan Marshall
• OC Ryan McCollum
• WR Denzel Mims
• RB Aaron Shampklin
• DL Jacob Slade
• WR Duece Watts

There you have it, 17 players who will open the season on the lower rungs of the Pittsburgh Steelers’ roster/practice squad. For more on the nature of these deals, here was a nice breakdown from Pro Football Network:

“An NFL futures contract is essentially exactly what it says it is. It is a contract that secures an NFL player to a team for the future. The reason it is designated as a ‘futures contract’ is that the player is not officially under contract until the start of the following league season.”

“The reason that differentiation is important is that the player’s contract does not count against the salary cap or the roster limit for the current season. Instead, it is credited against the following year’s salary cap, and the player counts against the offseason 90-man roster limit.”

PFN’s description also added that these deals make players exclusive to the teams who sign them. For instance, none of those 17 players signed to Reserve/Future contracts are allowed to negotiate with another team this offseason.

“It is crucial to note that once a player signs a futures contract, they are placed on a reserve/futures list and cannot negotiate with other teams. Unlike with practice squads, teams cannot sign other teams’ players with a futures contract. That means NFL general managers and coaches can be confident in having the bottom part of their roster settled for OTAs and training camp.”

Just a bit of housekeeping from the Steelers, who locked down a nice crop of reserves for next season. If you want to read more about this list of guys, the Steelers’ report of the signings provides a solid paragraph’s worth of background on each of them.