Some familiar faces will be on the field when the Patriots and Steelers meet again at Gillette Stadium on Sunday.
This September’s rosters, practice squads and reserve lists include four players who have spent time with both franchises during their NFL careers. Their paths have ranged from brief stopovers to longer stays, but each has crossed between New England and Pittsburgh in one form or another.
On the Steelers side, Brandon Smith is back in the mix after a short run with the Patriots last season. New England signed the 27-year-old wide receiver to its practice squad in December, then released him before the AFC divisional round in January.
Pittsburgh moved quickly, giving him a futures contract 48 hours later. He was later kept on the Steelers’ practice squad after August’s 53-man roster deadline.
Smith entered the league as an undrafted free agent out of Iowa in 2021 and has also spent time with the Dallas Cowboys, DC Defenders, Arizona Cardinals and New York Jets. He has made three appearances as a standard elevation.
Bradyn Swinson also has recent Patriots-to-Steelers movement behind him. New England waived the outside linebacker as the 2025 draft class was being trimmed at cutdown time, and he cleared waivers before landing on Pittsburgh’s initial practice squad.
Swinson, a fifth-round pick at No. 146 overall last year, started his rookie year on the practice squad before getting promoted to the 53-man roster in November. He ended up appearing in four games, including the AFC Championship Game, and logged 27 snaps on defense, 31 on special teams and one solo tackle.
The 24-year-old came to LSU after transferring from Oregon.
Christian Kuntz’s path to Pittsburgh included a stop in Foxborough before he settled in as the Steelers’ long snapper. Kuntz came into the NFL in 2017 as an undrafted free agent and was an August addition for the Patriots.
He was waived after that preseason finale when the roster was cut from 90. A linebacker prospect out of Duquesne, he later spent time with the Denver Broncos, Jacksonville Jaguars and Dallas Renegades before converting to long snapper.
Since his 2021 debut with Pittsburgh, the 32-year-old has played in 86 games and has 11 special teams tackles.
For New England, Robert Spillane is the most established of the crossovers and now wears a captain’s designation for the Patriots for the second straight year. Spillane has played in 100 games with 64 starts since entering the league in 2018 as an undrafted free agent.
He was originally signed by the Tennessee Titans after a rookie minicamp tryout, then spent four seasons in Pittsburgh, where he built his game on special teams and as a sub-package linebacker. After moving to the Las Vegas Raiders in 2023, he arrived in Foxborough in 2025.
His career totals include 602 tackles, 9.5 sacks, two forced fumbles, two fumble recoveries, eight interceptions and one touchdown return. When the Steelers last came to Gillette Stadium in September, Spillane had an interception and a team-high 15 tackles.
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