Mountaineers in the Pros
Former West Virginia All-American Beanie Bishop Suspended by NFL
Former West Virginia Mountaineer and Pittsburgh Steelers cornerback Beanie Bishop, now with the New Orleans Saints, has been suspended for the first three games of the 2026 season, according to the NFL transactions page for Tuesday. The suspension was levied by NFL commissioner Roger Goodell. The reason for the suspension was not announced.
Bishop, 26, joined the Saints practice squad on Nov. 2 after he was released by the Steelers. He spent the entire rest of the 2025 season on the New Orleans practice squad without being elevated or appearing in a game. He re-signed with New Orleans for 2026 on a reserve/future contract on Jan. 5.
The 5-foot-9, 182-pound slot cornerback joined the Steelers as an undrafted free agent out of West Virginia in 2024, and was one of the surprised of the season, making the team out of training camp and even carving out a starting role after Cam Sutton was suspended for the first half of the season.
Bishop appeared in all 17 games as a rookie, making six starts for the Steelers as the team’s primary Nickel cornerback before Sutton returned from his suspension. He finished the season with 45 tackles, two tackles for loss, one quarterback hit, one fumble recover, seven passes defended and four interceptions, including one off his future Steelers teammate, Aaron Rodgers.
Ed Thompson / Steelers Now
In 2025, Bishop was pushed down the depth chart when the Steelers added Brandin Echols and Darius Slay in free agency and traded for Jalen Ramsey. In part because of the versatility of Ramsey, the Steelers entered the season with just seven healthy defensive backs on the 53-man roster, and let Bishop go through waivers.
“There was teams that could have got me that obviously passed, so it just added more fuel,” Bishop said to Steelers Now in 2025. “So I’m essentially set the league on fire, bro, whenever I get to play again. So that’s just how I look at it, just add more motivation, fuel to the fire, so.”
He cleared waivers, and was re-signed to the practice squad, but was not elevated. On Nov. 3, the Steelers released Bishop from their practice squad, instead signing former Penn Hill and Penn State defensive back Daequan Hardy.
Bishop will be able to participate fully in the Saints’ offseason program, training camp and preseason before his suspension takes effect for the first three games of the 2026 season.
The Steelers are scheduled to visit the Saints this season.
This story initially appeared on our partner site Steelers Now.
Find more coverage of Beanie Bishop at WV Sports Now.
