Steelers Come to Terms with UFA TE Leonard Pope


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The Steelers have inked a new backup tight end, as Ed Bouchette just tweeted that the team has inked free agent TE Leonard Pope.

Steeler fans may remember Pope from Super Bowl XLIII when he caught a one-yard TD pass against the Steelers as a member of the Arizona Cardinals.

Pope was a third round pick out of Georgia in 2006 by the Cardinals. He is a favorite of new Steelers OC Todd Haley, who coached him in Arizona, and also has played with the Chiefs since 2009.

The new Steelers TE is more of a blocking TE, and signing him means that the future for both backup TE’s David Johnson and Weslye Saunders are in doubt.

Johnson is a restricted free agent, but has not yet signed his tender offer from the team. Saunders is suspended for the first four games of the 2012 season for a violation of the league’s policy on performance-enhancing drugs.

Source: Steelers Gab

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