Practice squad running back Godwin Igwebuike has had a busy season so far. He was signed to Atlanta's initial practice squad, then signed to the roster in time for the week one game, dropped back to the practice squad for week two but then elevated for the game, and now he's heading to Pittsburgh. Practice squad players are free agents, with the sole exception that you can't sign a guy off the practice squad of the team that you are about to play that week. So Igwebuike was up for grabs, and now the Steelers have signed him to their roster. Congratulations! Carlos Washington was also with the team for training camp and preseason but lost out to Igwebuike for the practice squad spot. The team has now signed him to the practice squad as the replacement. So congratulations to Washington as well - it's a paycheck, and he's at least getting reps and experience to help his development. Ultimately I'm still rooting for the return of Caleb Huntley. He tore his Achilles in week 15 last year and was released before the start of training camp when he failed a physical. I'm guessing he's still a month or so away from "football shape" level of recovery.
Sounds like a tough way to go with the uncertainty from one day to the next, but he should realize he is wanted and needed at the moment and thats a good thing. Hope he's got that luggage the gorilla cant even destroy, Samsonite or some shit.
I'd say competent to good. If you need a replacement kick returner, he'll do. He has had 39 career returns so far, and 4 of them have gone for 40+ yards. That surprised me. I didn't think he looked all that "dangerous" in training camp, but if the lanes are there he knows how to find and use them. Also noteworthy is that he came out of college in 2018 as a defensive back. When the Lions signed him in 2021, they converted him to RB after minicamp and he made the roster - probably because of his special teams / return capabilities. He played for Detroit in 2021, then Seattle in 2022, and now Atlanta/Pittsburgh so far in 2023.
The start of his career was the roughest. About 6 games on rosters in 2018 with the rest on the practice squad, so he probably made around 200-250k for that year. But he didn't make a roster at all in 2019 and was out of the league completely for 2019. He tried out the 2020 version of the XFL, which folded when COVID hit. I don't know if he sat out the 2020 season by choice due to COVID or if there simply were no teams interested, but he was out of the league again for all of 2020. Getting signed to the futures contract by Detroit and making their 2021 roster was a huge turning point for him. He made 780k that year. I think he made around 125-130k off of the two games for Atlanta, and he should make something like 190k over the next three weeks for Pittsburgh. (I'm not sure if the rule still stands, but it used to be that guys signed off of other teams' practice squads had 3 weeks guaranteed.) So in football terms, it's rough - he's already 29 and still on the fringe between rosters and practice squads. For the real world... he's 29 and making $320k just for the month of September. If he's smart about his money management, he'll end the season with a nice nest egg.
That definitely explains why they chose Igwebuike instead of the other RBs available. Yes, if Tomlin wants more depth for the KR role, Igwebuike is exactly what he's looking for.
