Steelers Sign Guard Danny Isidora from Chiefs Practice Squad

The Steelers have signed offensive lineman Danny Isidora from the Kansas City Chiefs practice squad, the team announced on Tuesday.

Isidora, 26, is a 6-foot-3, 306-pound guard in his fourth professional season out of Miami. A Weston, Florida native, Isidora was drafted in the fifth round of the 2017 NFL Draft by the Minnesota Vikings.

He started three games over two seasons the Vikings before being traded to the Miami Dolphins before the 2019 season. He started three games for the Dolphins but spent the rest of the season on Miami’s injured reserve list. 

The Dolphins cut Isidora at the end of training camp this year and the Chiefs added him to their practice squad on Sept. 8. Isidora was elevated to the active roster twice this season and played two snaps for Kansas City against the New York Jets.

In his four-year NFL career, Isidora has played in 25 games and made six starts.

The Steelers are suffering from a significant lack of depth at guard, where starter Matt Feiler suffered a pectoral injury on Sunday and was placed on the injured reserve list on Monday. Backup Kevin Dotson also injured his shoulder on Sunday and his status for Monday’s game against Cincinnati is unclear.

The only other interior offensive linemen the Steelers have are backup center J.C. Hassenauer, who filled in at left guard on Sunday, and second-year guard/tackle Derwin Gray, who has played in four games this season in a reserve and special teams role.

The Steelers lost one piece of their potential interior offensive line depth earlier this season when they released veteran center/guard Stefen Wisniewski. Wisniewski had suffered an injury and Dotson played well while starting in stead of he and injured starter David DeCastro.

Wisniewski was signed to Kansas City’s practice squad on Nov. 21 and promoted to the team’s active roster on Dec. 12, just one day before the Steelers lost two guards to injury in Buffalo.

When Isidora is activated to Pittsburgh’s roster, he will make 55 active players. The Steelers still have some roster exemptions due to players returning from the COVID-19 reserve list.