Steelers trade for TE McDonald
PITTSBURGH 鈥� Mike Tomlin didn鈥檛 couch his criticism of the current tight ends group in explaining why the Steelers traded for tight end Vance McDonald.
鈥淭he guys hadn鈥檛 been consistently varsity enough for our comfort. It鈥檚 as black and white as that,鈥� Tomlin said. 鈥淭hey鈥檝e had some moments positively, and had some moments negatively, and so we were in the market for a guy that was NFL-capable. McDonald is that.鈥�
The Steelers traded next year鈥檚 fourth-round pick to the San Francisco 49ers for McDonald and the 49ers鈥� fifth-round pick.
McDonald, 27, came out of Rice in 2013 as a second-round pick by the 49ers. He measured 6-4 1/8, 267 at the NFL Combine that year and ran a 4.69 40 with 31 bench reps.
McDonald caught 119 passes at Rice for 1,504 yards (12.6) and 15 touchdowns. He started four games for the 49ers in each of his first two seasons before becoming the full-time starter the last two seasons.
In 2015, McDonald caught 30 passes for 326 yards and 3 touchdowns and was on track for an even better season last year 鈥� 24-391-4 鈥� before suffering a broken scapula in Game 11 and going on Injured Reserve.
鈥淲e studied him when he came out in the draft, so we鈥檙e excited about that addition,鈥� said Tomlin, who didn鈥檛 remember the Steelers grade on McDonald, but 鈥淚 remember those that I like, and I liked him.鈥�
Tomlin also explained how he came across 鈥渟ome insight regarding him. One of his coaches at Rice would come up here in the spring to spend time with us in the OTAs and exchange some football knowledge, so I felt like we had some insight in terms of who he was when he was coming out of school.鈥�
Rice also produced current Steelers kicker Chris Boswell, who was a teammate of McDonald鈥檚 for three years.
Tomlin refused to put McDonald in a box, in terms of how he鈥檒l be used.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 want to have any preconceived notions to be honest with you,鈥� Tomlin said. 鈥淚鈥檓 sure he鈥檚 evolved in a lot of ways. I鈥檓 always hesitant to draw conclusions about what someone鈥檚 capable of being in our environment based on what they were in another environment. I鈥檓 excited about giving him an opportunity to show his skill set and maybe learn some new ones here. We鈥檙e always pleasantly surprised when we go in with that mentality.鈥�
Tomlin also refused to designate a specific slot for McDonald on the depth chart, where Jesse James, Xavier Grimble, David Johnson and recent pick-up Jake McGee currently reside.
鈥淲e鈥檙e not going to anoint him in any way,鈥� Tomlin said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e going to put him in uniform like the rest of them and just continue to allow them to sort themselves out. It鈥檚 reasonable to expect the guys that are here to respond positively in the right way to his presence and elevate their play.鈥�
McDonald鈥檚 salary cap hit this season will be $2.62 million plus $47k for every active game past 11.
His cap hits in the remaining four years of his contract will be $4.6 million (2018), $5.1 million (2019), $6.4 million (2020) and $6.4 million (2021).
Hall of Honor
The Steelers announced the 27 men who make up the inaugural class of the team鈥檚 Hall of Honor at Heinz Field.
The non-players are Chuck Noll, Art Rooney and Dan Rooney.
The pre-merger players are Jack Butler, Bill Dudley, Dick Hoak, John Henry Johnson, Walt Kiesling, Bobby Layne, Johnny 鈥淏lood鈥� McNally and Ernie Stautner.
Those who played in the 1970s are Mel Blount, Terry Bradshaw, Joe Greene, L.C. Greenwood, Jack Ham, Franco Harris, Jack Lambert, Andy Russell, Donnie Shell, John Stallworth, Lynn Swann and Mike Webster.
The modern-era players are Jerome Bettis, Dermontti Dawson, Kevin Greene and Rod Woodson.
The team will add 2-4 new people every year. The ceremony for this group will take place Alumni Weekend (Nov. 25-26) at halftime of the game against the Green Bay Packers.
X鈥檚 & O鈥檚
The Steelers cut tight end Phazahn Odom of Fordham and defensive end Christian Brown of West Virginia. They also put rookie outside linebacker Keion Adams on injured reserve. 鈥� The Steelers must cut to 53 by Saturday at 4 p.m. 鈥� Wide receiver Demarcus Ayers returned to practice after missing most of camp.