The Pittsburgh Steelers made a pair of moves at wide receiver on Saturday ahead of Sunday's Week 8 rematch with the Cleveland Browns at Acrisure Stadium. Pittsburgh signed Brandon Smith from the practice squad to the 53-man roster, and the team also elevated Brandon Johnson from the practice squad for the game. Both moves were reported Saturday afternoon by Ray Fittipaldo of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, and they say a lot about where the receiver room stands heading into a game with first place in the AFC North on the line.
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Brandon Smith on the field for the Steelers during the 2026 season.
For Smith, the promotion was the only way the Steelers could keep using him on game days. NFL rules allow a practice squad player to be elevated to the active roster three times in a season, and Smith had already used all three of his elevations for the Week 5 game against the Indianapolis Colts, the Week 6 game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and last Sunday's win over the New Orleans Saints. As SteelerNation pointed out last week, the Steelers were going to be forced to make a decision on Smith once that third elevation was used. Now they have made it.
Smith made the most of his chance in New Orleans. He caught two passes for 24 yards against the Saints, his first receptions of the season, and he has stayed involved on the field for three straight weeks.
The 27-year-old is 6-foot-2 and 215 pounds, and he played his college football at Iowa, where he finished with 91 receptions for 1,046 yards and nine touchdowns. He has bounced around the league since then, with stops with the Dallas Cowboys, Arizona Cardinals and New York Jets, along with time on the New England Patriots' practice squad and with the D.C. Defenders of the UFL. Pittsburgh signed him to a Reserve/Future contract at the end of the 2025 season, and he spent the start of this season on the practice squad.
Steelers Still Searching For Help Behind DK Metcalf
The timing of the move is not a surprise. The Steelers have been thin at receiver for weeks. Roman Wilson and Michael Pittman Jr. are both still on the Reserve/Injured List, and Ben Skowronek is listed as questionable for Sunday with a calf injury after he was limited in practice all week. Skowronek was inactive against the Saints with the same injury.
That has left quarterback Aaron Rodgers leaning heavily on DK Metcalf and rookie Germie Bernard, who caught his first NFL touchdown against Tampa Bay. Behind them, the Steelers have had to piece together the rest of the group on a week-to-week basis, and the practice squad has been a big part of that.
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Aaron Rodgers on the field for the Steelers during the 2025 season.
Johnson is the other piece of that puzzle. The former UCF receiver signed with the Denver Broncos as an undrafted free agent in 2022 and also spent time on the Buccaneers' practice squad. He has played in 23 career games with three starts, catching 26 passes for 335 yards and five touchdowns. His best season came in Denver in 2023, when he had 19 receptions for 284 yards and four touchdowns in 13 games.
Johnson spent the 2024 and 2025 seasons on the Steelers' practice squad before returning to it this year. He was also elevated for the Week 6 game in Tampa and the Week 7 game in New Orleans, which means Sunday's elevation is his third and final one of the season. If Pittsburgh wants to keep using him after the Browns game, it will face the same decision it just made with Smith.
Head Coach Mike McCarthy and his staff will also have to keep an eye on Marquez Valdes-Scantling, who signed with the practice squad earlier this month and brings 119 games of NFL experience. For now, the team has chosen to give Smith a permanent spot on the 53-man roster.
The Browns beat the Steelers 27-24 in Week 4 in Cleveland, and Pittsburgh will be looking to even the season series on Sunday afternoon. Kickoff is set for 1:00 PM ET. Whether Smith and Johnson play a big role or a small one, the Steelers needed bodies at receiver they trust, and Saturday's moves give Rodgers a few more options against a defense that gave his offense trouble the first time around.
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