The Pittsburgh Steelers are bringing defensive end K.J. Henry back onto the practice squad, a low-profile move that still fits the way the roster has been patched together this week.
NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo reported Tuesday that Pittsburgh is signing Henry after a workout the day before. Garafolo noted that Henry had been drawing attention in San Francisco’s camp before an injury ended his summer with the 49ers.
The timing is not accidental. Pittsburgh placed defensive lineman Derrick Harmon on injured reserve after a foot injury suffered in last week’s loss to the Cleveland Browns, thinning an already rotating front.
That absence is expected to push more work toward Sebastian Joseph-Day and Yahya Black, and Henry gives the staff another body who can practice at end while the active roster sorts itself out.
A practice-squad deal does not guarantee a snap, but it keeps a familiar name available if the line needs an emergency elevation.
Familiar is the right word. Reporter Jack Markowski noted that this is Henry’s third stint with the Steelers since last October.
He signed a futures contract in Pittsburgh after the 2025 season, was waived in June, and spent camp with San Francisco before being released with an injury designation.
The latest signing closes a short loop rather than opening a new one.
Henry’s path to this point has been a tour of the league’s margins. The Washington Commanders took the Clemson edge rusher in the fifth round of the 2023 draft, No. 137 overall, and he played 10 games as a rookie, including three starts, with 19 tackles, four tackles for loss, and 1.5 sacks.
Washington waived him during final cuts in 2024, early in the second year of a four-year, $4.2 million rookie deal.
Cincinnati claimed him, Dallas later signed him off the Bengals’ practice squad and waived him a month later, and he caught on with Philadelphia, where he was part of the practice squad that won Super Bowl LIX before being released at the start of the following camp.
Cleveland claimed him in July 2025. He appeared in one game for the Browns and otherwise stayed on the practice squad.
Across 15 career games he has 22 tackles, five tackles for loss, 2.5 sacks, and two passes defensed. Those numbers do not suggest a sudden breakthrough.
What they do suggest is a 6-foot-4, 255-pound end who has stayed employable because teams keep needing depth.
At Clemson, he was a team captain and a second-team All-ACC selection in 2022, and he was on the roster for the Tigers’ 2018 national title. That pedigree has not translated into a stable NFL role. At 27, Henry is again a practice-squad option in Pittsburgh, useful if injuries continue and easy to move if they do not.
