Joe Schobert was unable to practice with his new teammates Saturday at Heinz Field, but with the trade for the former Pro Bowl linebacker from the Jaguars now complete, he'll be on the field Sunday morning when the Steelers return to practice.
The Steelers' trade with the Jaguars for a sixth-round pick in 2022 for Schobert, which was in the works since Thursday and completed Saturday after Schobert passed his physical.
But Mike Tomlin, who declined to comment on the deal after his team's 24-16 win Thursday night in Philadelphia, was glowing about the team's most recent acquisition Saturday.
"We’re excited about having him," Tomlin said.
What excites him?
"Productivity, when I think of Joe," Tomlin replied. "He needs no endorsement from me. We’re familiar with him. Former AFC North guy, been highly productive in every circumstance that he’s been in. He’s a sideline-to-sideline tackler, he’s good in coverage, he has coverage production in terms of interceptions, he has sack production. He plays a well-rounded game and so we’re excited about infusing him into what we do."
The infusion of Schobert and how quickly that can happen remains to be seen. The Steelers play their next preseason game next Saturday at Heinz Field against the Lions. Tomlin has already announced that Ben Roethlisberger will see his first -- and likely only -- action of this preseason, so it stands to figure the rest of the starters will be out there as well.
With just a week of practices ahead, it's unlikely Schobert, 27, will immediately unseat Robert Spillane next to Devin Bush at inside linebacker. But it does add a bit of intrigue defensively. Schobert has seven interceptions the past two seasons -- four in 2019 for the Browns and three last season for the Jaguars -- and would fit nicely into a nickel package next to the speedy Bush.
"I’m not ready to speculate at this juncture. We’ve got some work in front of us and they’ll determine the division of labor with their quality of work, as it should be," Tomlin said.
Schobert's addition is the third of a former Pro Bowl player by the Steelers since mini-camp ended in early June. The Steelers signed guard Trai Turner right after that, then added outside linebacker Melvin Ingram just a couple of days before the start of training camp in late July.
The Steelers will pay all of Schobert's $7 million guaranteed contract for 2021, but even with that, the additions of Turner, Green and Schobert is costing the team just over $10 million against this season's salary cap -- and a future sixth-round pick.
"It was available. It presented itself to us, but it didn’t take us long to consider it because we’re highly familiar with his skillset and productivity," Tomlin said of the decision to make the deal to acquire Schobert.
To make room on the roster, the Steelers released linebacker Tegray Scales.
