FRIDAY, 2:32pm: The Cardinals have officially added Mauro to their roster, cutting linebacker Thomas Keiser to clear room on the squad, per Darren Urban of AZCardinals.com (via Twitter).
THURSDAY, 4:54pm: The Cardinals will pluck defensive end Josh Mauro from the Steelers’ practice squad and add him to their 53-man roster, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (on Twitter).
Mauro, 24 in February, offers tremendous size at 6’6″ and 271 pounds. With a frame reminiscent of Texans star J.J. Watt, the Steelers actually put a No. 99 jersey on Mauro in practices leading up to their October showdown with Houston. The Stanford product played mostly defensive end in college but is said to also have the ability to play on the interior.
Mauro could have made the Steelers’ final cut in August, particularly with question marks surrounding their defensive line, but he had to settle for a practice squad slot after he didn’t make the 53-man roster. Now, he’ll have his NFL opportunity elsewhere.