The Pittsburgh Steelers have already begun their offseason, officially announcing that the team had signed 17 players to Reserve/Future contracts on Tuesday.

Two moves had already been announced, including the signings of LB Julius Welschof and Doug Nester, on Monday evening — now officially official.

Now, here’s a look at the rest of the players announced as signed to Reserve/Future contracts by the Steelers as of Tuesday afternoon:

Steelers Reserve/Future contracts 2025

DB Joshuah Bledsoe
OL Dylan Cook
DT Domenique Davis
LB Devin Harper
RB Evan Hull
DB D’Shawn Jamison
WR Brandon Johnson
OG Steven Jones
LB Eku Leota
WR Lance McCutcheon
DB Kyler McMichael
OG Doug Nester
LB Thomas Rush
RB Aaron Shampklin
DT Jacob Slade
QB Skyler Thompson
LB Julius Welschof

Several of those signed to Reserve/Future contracts are already familiar with the team. OL Dylan Cook, LB Devin Harper, WR Brandon Johnson, LB Eku Leota, OT Doug Nester, RB Aaron Shampklin, CB D’Shawn Jamison, DT Jacob Slade and LB Julius Welschof were on the practice squad this season, with Welschof holding international practice squad status.

What are NFL Reserve/Future contracts?

Former BTSC contributor Dave Schofield explained how futures contracts in a series from the 2023 offseason:

At the conclusion of the regular season, players on the team’s 53-man roster remain there until the start of the next league year. There are times where players are released, often for salary cap purposes, ahead of the new league year and they become street free agents.

Whether a player is on the practice squad of a team whose season is over or simply a free agent, they are free to sign with any NFL team for the following year. But since rosters are locked when a team season is over, these players signed a type of contract, a Reserve/Future contract, where they do not count on the teams salary cap or roster count until the beginning of the league year. Once a player signs one of these contracts, the are on the NFL’s Reserve/Future List and they are not free to negotiate with other teams as they are under contract even though the league year has not kicked in. Teams can sign as many players to futures contracts as they choose as long as it does not put them over the 90-man limit that takes effect the first day of the new league year.