Giants Sign former Steelers DE Henry Mondeaux to Practice Squad

The New York Giants have signed former Pittsburgh Steelers defensive end Henry Mondeaux to their practice squad, the team announced on Thursday.

Mondeaux was released by the Steelers on Tuesday. He is one of two Steelers players that were cut on Tuesday to end up with the Giants, along with cornerback Justin Layne, who was claimed on waivers.

Mondeaux had been with the Steelers since 2019 and was a solid contributor in each of the last two seasons. After spending all of 2019 on the practice squad, he played in 11 games in 2020 and 15 games in 2021 while making two starts.

Over two seasons of action, he had 21 tackles, 3 tackles for loss, two sacks, four quarterback hits and a fumble recovery. Slightly undersized for the Steelers defensive line at 6-foot-4, 280 pounds, Mondeaux made use of his speed instead and played a good amount of special teams snaps compared to most defensive linemen.

This season, the additions of free agent Larry Ogunjobi and third-round draft pick DeMarvin Leal pushed Mondeaux down the Steelers depth chart on the defense line. The Steelers tried to use Mondeaux at nose tackle some while Tyson Alaulu and Montravius Adams were out with various minor injuries, but the experiment was not successful.

The Steelers kept seven linemen on their active roster, with Cam Heyward, Isaiahh Loudermilk and Chris Wormley joining the four listed above. Carlos Davis was added to the Steelers practice squad on Wednesday. The Steelers still have eight vacancies on their practice squad.

Mondeaux originally signed with the New Orleans Saints as an undrafted free agent in 2018 and spent one season on the Saints’ practice squad. He signed with the Kansas City Chiefs in 2019, but was released mid-summer and caught on with the Steelers.

A Portland, Oregon native, Mondeaux played at Oregon from 2014-17, amassing 111 tackles, 17 tackles for a loss and 10 sacks in his time with the Ducks.