Steelers Reveal Uniform Numbers for Latest Signings

The uniform numbers have been revealed for the Pittsburgh Steelers’ two latest signings, linebacker Nick Kwiatkoski and long snapper Rex Sunahara.

Kwiatkoski and Sunahara were both signed after tryouts during the Steelers’ spring session. Kwiatkoski worked during the team’s three-day mandatory minicamp last month, while Sunahara had a private tryout after playing in the XFL this spring.

With the Steelers this summer, Kwiatkoski will wear No. 46 and Sunahara will don No. 49.

Both of those numbers will be duplicates. Long snapper Christian Kuntz wears No. 46 on offense and linebacker Chappelle Russell wears No. 49 on defense.

Kwiatkoski previously wore 44 with the Chicago Bears and Las Vegas Raiders and 53 with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Linebacker Tanner Muse is wearing 44 and center Kendrick Green has 53. Kuntz has had 46 since the start of his second stint with the Steelers in 2000.

Sunhara donned 47 with the San Antonio Brahmas. He wore 64 at West Virginia. Professional long snappers typically wear an eligible number in the 40s or 50s.

Russell has worn 49 since he joined the Steelers’ practice squad last September. The last Steelers player to wear 49 in a regular-season game was Cassius Marsh in 2020.

The Steelers a handful of other duplicate uniform numbers. Safety Tre Norwood and wide receiver Hakeem Butler are both wearing No. 21, cornerback Levi Wallace and running back Alfonzo Graham are both wearing No. 29, running back Jaylen Warren and cornerback Chris Wilcox are both wearing No. 30, cornerback Madre Harper and running back Jason Huntley both have No. 38, linebacker David Perales and fullback Monte Pottebaum have both been assigned No. 40.

There are 90 players on the Steelers’ active roster, plus one on the injured reserve list. The club has three officially retired numbers — 32 for Franco Harris, 70 for Ernie Stautner — but also doesn’t give out 1, 7, 12, 36, 43, 47, 52, 58, 59 or 86. The Steelers have also been hesitant to give out single-digit numbers to players at non-traditional positions and refused to let tight end Darnell Washington wear his college number zero, despite a new NFL rule allowing them to do so.

The result is that the Steelers have more players than they have roster spots for, especially in crowded number ranges like the 20s, 30s and 40s.

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