Raiders sign new player away from Steelers

Billy Heyen

Raiders sign new player away from Steelers image

One of the most intriguing maneuvers in the NFL comes when a player is signed off another team's practice squad.

Another team is allowed to do that if they sign the new guy to their active roster.

That's what the Las Vegas Raiders did on Tuesday, hurting the Pittsburgh Steelers in the process.

They signed Jon Rhattigan from the Steelers' practice squad, his agency announced.

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Rhattigan is a linebacker.

He played six snaps on special teams for the Steelers in Week 2 of this season.

Rhattigan spent the summer with the Carolina Panthers and only joined the Steelers in the lead-in to Week 1. 

Now, he's on to another team.

Before Pittsburgh, Rhattigan had also appeared in games for the Seattle Seahawks and then the Panthers in 2024.

Rhattigan has played a total of 53 NFL games across his five seasons so far. He has 44 career tackles.

He's almost exclusively a special teams player.

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Defensively, Rhattigan has played 20 snaps in his entire NFL career.

But on special teams, Rhattigan has 1,024 career snaps.

He knows what he's doing on the specialty units, and for now, the Raiders will bring that into the building to see if Rhattigan can help their cause (currently 1-4).

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Billy Heyen

Billy Heyen is a freelance writer with The Sporting News. He is a 2019 graduate of Syracuse University who has written about many sports and fantasy sports for The Sporting News. Sports reporting work has also appeared in a number of newspapers, including the Sandusky Register and Rochester Democrat & Chronicle