Steelers OTAs notebook: With voluntary work done, next time team convenes it’s mandatory

Fifteen years in the NFL has left Cameron Heyward with savvy in more areas than taking on blocks or attacking an offensive line.

He has become shrewd in his dealings with media, too.

As such, it was going to take a little better effort from a reporter to glean valuable information than to ask what a veteran can take out of spring football.

“I know why you’re asking that,” Heyward, the Pittsburgh Steelers’ longtime defensive captain, said with a smile.

The implication was that fans — and by extension, the media that acts as their conduit — are curious about whether star outside linebacker T.J. Watt needs to attend workouts while embroiled in a contract-extension stalemate of sorts with the Steelers.

“I think there is growth for everybody,” Heyward said in reference to organized team activities and minicamp. “If you think you can only get better out here, that’s one thing. But we’ll see what happens.”

Seemingly everyone will see what happens come Tuesday, when a three-day mandatory minicamp kicks off at UPMC Rooney Sports Complex. Will Watt show — with or without an extension as he enters the final year of his contract?

Of the more than seven dozen players at Thursday’s OTA session, Heyward as the team elder — who has played with Watt for eight seasons — might know best. But he knows well enough not to give a straight answer when asked if he expected “full participation” among players under contract at minicamp.

“I don’t know,” the 36-year-old Heyward said. “Shoot, I barely get any reps out here as it is. Full participation is a question mark at this time.”

Castro fitting in

One of the most intriguing of the undrafted rookie free agents with the Steelers is Sebastian Castro. Listed as a safety by the Steelers, the majority of Castro’s playing time in college at Iowa was as a 5-foot-11, 203-pound slot/nickel cornerback.

“I just try to be the best football player I can be, to be honest,” Castro said Thursday. “I try to do as much as I can. I feel like that’s a lot of guys, if you’re a football player, you want that label to be like: “Hey, that guy’s a football player,’ you know? It comes with respect within the game.”

For now, Castro has been getting reps at safety, and he also recognizes that showing worth on special teams would best serve his chances of impressing coaches.

But don’t mistake that for any lack of self-confidence in Castro at his ability to eventually fit in and thrive at the NFL level.

“Oh, yeah, definitely,” he said. “I always feel like when I’m on the field, like, I’m going to win every rep. You know that that’s not possible, but any athlete can attest to that. You have to understand that you are the best, per se. So, even though it’s not 100% true, you always just have to believe it.”

Another Tiger

The Steelers made a roster move Thursday, swapping safeties by releasing Joshuah Bledsoe and signing Quindell Johnson.

The 6-foot, 208-pound Johnson, 25, is joining his fourth NFL team since entering the league as an undrafted free agent with the Los Angeles Rams in 2023. He appeared in nine games as a rookie with the Chicago Bears and was released by the San Francisco 49ers last month.

Interestingly, Johnson becomes the fourth player on the 90-man roster who is listed from the University of Memphis. That’s tied with Iowa and Wisconsin and behind only Ohio State (six) for most with the Steelers. And that doesn’t even count a handful of other former Memphis Tigers who were with the Steelers in recent years past,

“It’s that ‘grit and grind,’” Johnson said of the connection between his college program and the Steelers.

“Grit and Grind” is something of an unofficial motto for the city of Memphis that was associated with the NBA’s Grizzlies for a time.

“What we harp on (at Memphis) is that ‘grit and grind,’” Johnson said. “It’s about the work. … How we work there is a testament to us.

“Love the Memphis guys, man.”

Signed in January to a reserve/future deal, Bledsoe has bounced around the league since 2021 but has appeared in just four regular-season games.