Steelers claim CB Jhavonte Dean, waive/injured Brian Allen
Forty-eight hours before their preseason finale, the Pittsburgh Steelers swapped cornerbacks Tuesday.
They claimed rookie Jhavonte Dean off waivers from the Cleveland Browns and waived/injured third-year player Brian Allen, a former fifth-round pick.
The 6-foot-1, 185-pound Dean was waived four days after competing in his third preseason game for the Browns. He was signed as an undrafted free agent out of Miami, where he spent two years after a junior-college career.
Dean tied for the “Turnover Chain” Hurricanes’ team lead in interceptions last year with three.
Allen suffered what is believed to be a lower-body injury. He did not play in the Steelers’ preseason win Sunday against the Tennessee Titans. A converted wide receiver during his college career at Utah, the 6-3 Allen ran the 40-yard dash in 4.48 seconds at the NFL combine. The Steelers were hoping to unearth a late-blooming gem in the 2017 draft by taking him.
This will be a pivotal year with the #Steelers for both Ola Adeniyi and Brian Allen.https://t.co/NaVMRJovU5
— Tribune-ReviewSports (@TribSports) June 14, 2019
But despite showing some potential, Allen has played in only 16 regular-season games over his two NFL seasons and was no better than the sixth cornerback on the roster with cutdown day looming. Allen was cut at the end of last year’s preseason. He opened the regular season on the practice squad and became a special-teams contributor.
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Chris Adamski is a TribLive reporter who has covered primarily the Pittsburgh Steelers since 2014 following two seasons on the Penn State football beat. A Western Pennsylvania native, he joined the Trib in 2012 after spending a decade covering Pittsburgh sports for other outlets. He can be reached at cadamski@triblive.com.
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