Hoosiers in the Pros: Steelers sign Tegray Scales to Reserve/Future contracts

Former Hoosiers linebacker, Tegray Scales, signed with the Pittsburgh Steelers on Friday afternoon.

The Pittsburgh Steelers were busy during the first week of their offseason by signing four players to Reserve/Future contracts.

One of them was former Hoosiers linebacker Tegray Scales who graduated from Indiana in 2018 and went undrafted in the 2018 NFL Draft.

What exactly are Reserve/Future contracts? They are regular active-roster contracts, with the only difference being that it doesn’t take full effect until the start of the next league year. Until then, the player goes on the reserve/futures list and can’t be signed by any other team.

Scales was signed by the Los Angeles Rams last spring but failed to make the 53-man roster coming out of training camp. He was then signed to the Indianapolis Colts’ practice squad in December but was released earlier this month.

Going into the NFL Draft, scouts had this to say regarding Scales’ skill.

"“Highly instinctive linebacker who combines a keen sense of play direction with a feel for the optimal angles to fill up the stat sheet….. Scales may lack desired size and speed, but his 36 tackles for loss and 13 sacks over the last two seasons should give an indication of his playmaking ability."

At Indiana, Scales’ best season came as a junior when he was a third team All-Big Ten selection, while being named as the Foster Farms Bowl Defensive Most Valuable Player.

For his career as a Hoosier, Scales recorded 324 tackles that included 46 tackles for loss, 17 sacks and eight interceptions.