49ers Waive Ex-Steelers Defensive Back

The San Francisco 49ers have released former Steelers safety Tre Norwood from their practice squad, the team announced on Tuesday. This was the first team that Norwood had joined since Pittsburgh released him during cut-downs and opted to keep Trenton Thompson over him on the practice squad. Now, he is again without a team and will look to find a new place to land.

Norwood missed most of the Steelers’ training camp and nearly all of the preseason with a nagging right calf injury. 

The team’s seventh-round pick in the 2021 NFL Draft, Norwood played a good bit between slot corner and free safety in his first two seasons in the NFL. The Steelers used him exclusively at free safety, where plenty of playing time was available thanks to injuries to Damontae Kazee and Keanu Neal and Minkah Fitzpatrick being away from the team. Still, Norwood was not healthy himself to take advantage.

Norwood appeared in ten games for the Steelers last season, recording 16 tackles and no interceptions. Norwood appeared in the season’s first nine games and played over 30 snaps in four. Norwood’s role diminished upon the arrival of Damonte Kazee in Week 10.

He played 71 snaps against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and racked up four tackles in the game while being targeted four times for two receptions. This was the game where injuries ravaged the secondary and saw the likes of Josh Jackson on the field. Norwood did not allow a touchdown while in coverage but had a 28.6% missed tackle rate in 2022.

During his rookie season in Pittsburgh, Norwood played 388 snaps as a rookie, which included as a starter at the slot cornerback position in the season opener at Buffalo. He also started in a game against the Chargers at free safety in 2021.

Norwood’s most memorable play is his game-sealing interception against the Cleveland Browns in Ben Roethlisberger’s final home game as a member of the Steelers in 2021.