The Pittsburgh Steelers turned to their practice squad for wide receiver help ahead of Sunday’s game against the New Orleans Saints in Paris, elevating Brandon Smith and Brandon Johnson to the active roster for the contest.
The Steelers announced the moves on Saturday.
Both will return to the practice squad afterward, providing a short-term boost as the team manages injuries elsewhere in the room.
Smith, a 27-year-old Iowa product who signed a reserve/future contract with Pittsburgh after the 2025 season, has already been called up twice this year.
He saw 16 offensive snaps in the Week 5 win over the Colts after Michael Pittman Jr. landed on injured reserve, contributing as a blocker on a long touchdown run by Jaylen Warren even though he went without a target.
A week later against Tampa Bay, with Roman Wilson also on IR and Ben Skowronek sidelined by a calf issue, Smith logged 41 snaps as the third receiver behind DK Metcalf and Germie Bernard.
He again failed to catch a pass but made a special-teams tackle. This marks his third elevation of the season, exhausting his standard allotment under league rules; any further game-day availability would require a spot on the 53-man roster.
Smith crossed paths with Aaron Rodgers during the quarterback’s 2024 season with the Jets, and the connection has carried over. Rodgers spoke highly of him during training camp, noting improved conditioning and a knack for making plays.
Johnson arrives with more professional production, though his path has been circuitous.
The 28-year-old UCF alumnus signed with the Broncos as an undrafted free agent in 2022 and recorded 26 career receptions for 335 yards and five touchdowns, most of them in Denver.
He has bounced through multiple practice-squad stints with Pittsburgh—this is his fourth—along with brief stops elsewhere.
Elevated for the first time this season against the Buccaneers, he played only three snaps and did not appear in the box score. He retains one elevation remaining. Like Smith, he has spent time around Rodgers in the building and offers size at 6-foot-2.
With Pittman and Wilson unavailable for the foreseeable future, the elevations give the Steelers additional bodies behind Metcalf and Bernard for the international contest.
Neither receiver has recorded a catch in their recent call-ups, yet both have shown they can fill roles when needed, whether through snaps on offense or contributions on special teams.
The moves underscore Pittsburgh’s preference for in-house options while the injured receivers work their way back, keeping the focus on players already familiar with the offense and the quarterback.
