Steelers GM: Undrafted rookie has ‘excellent opportunity’ to make team.
The Steelers emerged with what many consider to be one of the strongest rookie classes in the 2024 NFL Draft, and it appears Pittsburgh’s luck isn’t over.
General manager Omar Khan feels the team may have signed another impact player as an undrafted free agent after the draft.
“I can’t tell you how excited we were to have the opportunity to sign Beanie Bishop after the draft,” Khan told Randy Baumann on the DVE Morning Show. “I believe he’ll have a wonderful opportunity at Nickel to assist us this year. He is quite valuable on special teams.”
Bishop is tiny, measuring 5-foot-10 and weighing 184 pounds, but he could be the slot corner the Steelers have been looking for since letting Mike Hilton (Bengals) leave in free agency three years ago.
The West Virginia graduate was all over the field in 2023, recording a career-high 67 tackles, four interceptions, and 20 passes defensed. He also returned a punt for a touchdown.
When Pittsburgh met with Bishop throughout the pre-draft process, Khan realized he could be a great fit.
“We had him here for a visit.” “When he was here, we discussed our defense and how he would fit in,” Khan added. “We really felt like he was a guy that could come in here and compete.”
Fortunately for the Steelers, they were able to acquire him without spending a draft pick on him. It’s a risk that could pay out handsomely in the long run, as it did for Hilton in 2016.
Hilton, like Bishop, went undrafted, so Pittsburgh took a risk on him. He turned into one of the league’s greatest slot cornerbacks and was compensated appropriately (four-year, $24 million contract).
That is not to say that history will repeat itself with Bishop, but if he is even half as good as Hilton, the Steelers’ 2024 rookie class might be one of the best in recent years.