Matt Spaeth

Spaeth is apparently not fully recovered from knee surgery this offseason and has been released with a Failed Physical designation. The veteran tight end has spent seven of his nine NFL seasons with the Steelers, including each of the past three.

The longtime backup TE won't miss anything significant with the Steelers already out of the playoff picture. He'll be able to get back to football activities in 3-4 weeks. The Steelers are likely to draft a TE this upcoming draft, possibly leaving Spaeth without a job.

Spaeth is used as a blocking tight end for the Steelers and as a result, has yet to receive a target through the first three games. Mike Vick will make his debut tonight due to Ben Roethlisberger being sidelined with a knee injury and the Steelers will look to run the ball more often against the Ravens. Spaeth hopes to play with a cast on his hand which has a chance to limit how effective he will be blocking.

This will obviously limit his ability to catch passes, but the Steelers may be able to use him strictly as a blocker if he can play with the cast. If he is unable to do so, you can expect him to miss at least a couple of weeks.