Steelers Make Roster Moves Tuesday

The Pittsburgh Steelers have waived/injured first-year wide receiver Cole Burgess, the team announced Tuesday. Burgess suffered an injury during the later stages of Monday’s practice. While it was the first session Pittsburgh put on the pads, Burgess’ injury came during a non-hitting, 7-on-7 session.

Once Burgess clears waivers, he will revert to Pittsburgh’s injured reserve list.

In a corresponding move, the team signed WR Jakobie Keeney-James, who worked out for the Steelers last week.

The nature of Burgess’ injury isn’t known, though it may have been a lower body injury. Trainers had to offer Burgess plenty of assistance Monday and he left in the cart in obvious pain.

Pittsburgh signed Burgess to a Reserve/Future contract in January before the Steelers hired Mike McCarthy. He was a long shot to make the team’s 53-man roster but was vying for a practice squad spot in a deep battle with several other wide receivers in A.T. Perry, Levi Wentz, Max Hurleman, Brandon Smith and Joaquin Davis.

Before his injury, Burgess ran with the backups and reserves during team drills while seeing some work as a gunner on special teams.

Burgess entered the NFL as an undrafted free agent out of SUNY Cortland. He spent 2025 on the Cincinnati Bengals practice squad and had a connection to offensive coordinator Dan Pitcher, who also attended and briefly coached at SUNY Cortland. Burgess caught two passes for 24 yards in the preseason but did not appear in a regular season contest.

In college, Burgess starred at the D-III level. In 2023, he was named All-American after posting 87 receptions for 1,375 yards, and 16 touchdowns. That included a 245-yard, three-touchdown showing in a 41-17 win over Brockport.

It’s possible Burgess could be released with an injury settlement later this month, but the serious-looking nature of the injury suggests Burgess will remain on injured reserve throughout the season. He’ll join DB Daequan Hardy on IR. Hardy suffered a season-ending injury in May.

Keeney-James is now on his third NFL team after prior stints with the Detroit Lions and Green Bay Packers. He will wear No. 23 for the Steelers.

He played in one game for the Packers last season, catching two passes for 15 yards. In 2024 at UMass, Keeney-James caught 50 passes for 839 yards and six touchdowns. At the school’s Pro Day, he measured in at 5114 and 190 pounds and ran a 4.37 40-yard dash.

Prior to his season at UMass, Keeney-James played at Eastern Washington, the same school that produced Cooper Kupp. He totaled 825 receiving yards during his time at the school.

He had initially signed with the Lions as an undrafted free agent following the 2025 NFL Draft, but was released during final roster cuts. He joined the Packers in September and made his NFL debut in Week 17. In addition to his two receptions, he also returned two kicks for 47 yards.