The Pittsburgh Steelers made a rare move over the weekend, cutting wide receiver Colton Dowell only two days after claiming him. It’s the kind of transaction that usually says more than the transaction itself lets on — and in this case, nobody’s quite sure what it says yet.
A Quick Turnaround
Pittsburgh claimed Dowell off waivers from the San Francisco 49ers on Friday, August 7, adding him to fill out a receiver room already busy with roster churn. The same day, the team waived wide receiver A.T. Perry and tight end J.J. Galbreath to make corresponding room, while also claiming tight end Lance Mason off waivers from Seattle.
By Sunday, Dowell was gone. According to Steelers Depot, it doesn’t appear Dowell ever actually practiced with the team, and it’s unclear why he never showed up on the field, even for a single day. That’s a notably different story than a player getting a fair look and simply not sticking — this was a claim that seems to have unraveled almost immediately. Steeler Nation
The lone detail anyone learned about Dowell’s brief stint in Pittsburgh was that he’d been assigned to wear No. 27. Beyond that, there’s no word yet from the team or Dowell himself on what happened. Steeler Nation
Who Is Colton Dowell
Dowell, 27, is a 6-foot-3, 212-pound receiver who starred at UT Martin, catching 67 passes for 1,036 yards and six touchdowns in a breakout 2022 season that made him a first-team all-conference pick and the program’s all-time leading receiver. He tested well enough at his pro day to be an intriguing Day 3 flier, and Tennessee took him in the seventh round of the 2023 draft. Steelers DepotWikipedia
His rookie year started with promise. Dowell made the Titans’ 53-man roster and got his first NFL action in a Week 4 win over Cincinnati. He finished with one catch on two targets for three yards across 10 games, most of his snaps coming on special teams. Then, in Week 17 against Houston, he tore his ACL and meniscus — an injury serious enough that it wiped out the rest of that season and the entire following year. Wikipedia + 2
Tennessee waived him in July 2025. He landed on Baltimore’s practice squad that October, only to be released five days later, before signing a reserve/futures deal with San Francisco in January 2026. The 49ers waived him this offseason, which is how he ended up on Pittsburgh’s radar in the first place. cbssports
Why It Matters Beyond One Transaction
On its own, a depth receiver bouncing through a fourth organization in two years isn’t unusual — it happens constantly in August. What makes this one worth a second look is the speed. Teams typically give a waiver claim at least a few practices to make an impression before cutting bait, especially at a position group that’s been unsettled all camp. Pittsburgh not even getting Dowell onto the field suggests either a paperwork or physical issue that surfaced fast, or a coaching staff that had already seen enough elsewhere in camp to know he wasn’t going to factor in.
It also fits a pattern for this Steelers receiver room. Pittsburgh has already cycled through Perry, Galbreath, and now Dowell in a matter of days, while dealing with real questions about health at the position — Michael Pittman Jr., the team’s presumed WR2 behind DK Metcalf, has been in and out of practice with a leg issue that trainers examined but that hasn’t yet been labeled serious. That’s the more consequential storyline in this receiver room right now; Dowell’s arrival and exit barely register against it.
What’s Next
Dowell’s release leaves Pittsburgh with an open spot on its 90-man roster that the team will likely fill before its preseason opener against Green Bay on August 13. Whether that means another waiver claim, a tryout signing, or simply running with the receivers already in camp remains to be seen — the Steelers haven’t signaled their next move.
