The Steelers have signed defensive end and outside linebacker Cassius Marsh from the practice squad of the Indianapolis Colts, the team announced on Wednesday.
Marsh (6-foot-4, 254 pounds) is 28 and in his seventh NFL season after being selected out of UCLA in the fourth round of the 2014 NFL Draft by the Seattle Seahawks.
Marsh spent three years with Seattle, starting one game in 2016, when he finished with 22 tackles, five tackles for loss, three sacks and five quarterback hits.
Since then, he’s bounced around a good bit, as the Steelers are his seventh NFL team. After stops in New England, San Francisco and Arizona, Marsh has played seven games this season. Four came with the Jacksonville Jaguars and three with the Colts. He has a total of 14 tackles and one forced fumble so far this season.
The Steelers announced Marsh as a defensive end, but at 254 pounds, he is smaller that starting outside linebackers Bud Dupree and T.J. Watt, so he probably projects as an outside linebacker in Pittsburgh’s 3-4 scheme.
Dupree was lost for the season to an ACL injury last week against Baltimore. He was replaced in the starting lineup for Week 13 by rookie Alex Highsmith. Third-year pro Ola Adeniyi and veteran backup and special teamer Jayrone Elliott are the only other outside linebackers on the Steelers’ active roster. Outside linebacker and long snapper Christian Kuntz is on the practice squad.
Due to NFL rule changes for the 2020 season based on COVID-19 protocols, Marsh will have to stay with Pittsburgh for at least three weeks because he was signed from another team’s practice squad.
Marsh is the son of former Steelers wide receiver Curtis Marsh Sr., who played for the team in 1997. Marsh had two catches for 14 yards in five games that year.