Strong Ex-Steelers OL Lands with Birmingham

Former Pittsburgh Steelers offensive lineman and draft pick Derwin Gray is landing with the United Football League with the Birmingham Stallions, the team announced. He was a member of the team last season when they won the USFL.

Gray last appeared in the NFL with the Tennessee Titans in 2022 when he was released in June after spending 2021 with the team. He left Pittsburgh after the Jacksonville Jaguars claimed him off waivers near the end of 2020 but he never ended up playing a game as they released him in cut-downs during training camp.

A seventh-round pick of the Steelers in the 2019 NFL Draft out of Maryland, Gray spent his entire rookie season on the Pittsburgh practice squad. In 2020, he was waived at the outset of training camp and joined the practice squad, but was promoted to the active roster on Sept. 18 and played in five games before being waived and claimed by the Jaguars.

The 6-foot-5, 320-pound lineman played tackle at Maryland, but the Steelers had been using Gray as a guard in the NFL. Gray played both guard and tackle during his time in the NFL with the three teams he was with. Gray started the Steelers’ second matchup against the Cincinnati Bengals in 2020 at guard. 

Gray has since been fighting to get back to that point where he could make a splash at the NFL level and hopes that the UFL can give him the path back to the league.