The Pittsburgh Steelers added another young option to a wide receivers corps in transition, signing Javon McKinley on Monday.
McKinley spent most of last season on the Detroit Lions’ practice squad but was released by the organization in May. The 6-foot-2, 215-pound McKinley played in college at Notre Dame, where he led the team in receiving yards (717) in 2020 with a 17.7 per-catch average that season. He totaled just 11 catches his previous four seasons as part of the program, though.
Incidentally, McKinley is the third member of the Steelers’ 12-man wide receivers corps in training camp who played at Notre Dame. McKinley was a college teammate of Chase Claypool and Miles Boykin.
Rookie outside linebacker Tyree Johnson was waived to make roster room for McKinley. Signed as an undrafted free agent out of Texas A&M soon after the draft ended, Johnson was among the primary protagonists in a skirmish that ended Friday’s practice at Saint Vincent.
The move leaves the Steelers with seven outside linebackers available for camp practices.
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