On Tuesday, the Pittsburgh Steelers tried to add some depth to their receiving game when they claimed wide receiver Adam Thielen off waivers.

The 35-year-old, who has announced that this is his final season, was waived after a mutual decision between him and the Minnesota Vikings. Thielen, who had a very small role on this year’s struggling Vikings team, wanted the chance to play a bigger role on a team closer to a playoff spot.

Well, he got that…kind of. The Steelers, at 6-6, will play for the division lead in the AFC North when they travel to Baltimore to take on the Ravens. Thielen, who has been seen at team practice since arriving on Wednesday, might play a role in Pittsburgh’s aim to control the division.

But making an impact with such little time to acclimate to a new team and scheme might prove difficult, and Thielen is in some rare Steelers company.

Adding a wide receiver this late in the season is a rare practice for this organization. Pittsburgh has historically never been huge shoppers at the trade deadline, even as general manager Omar Khan has loosened up what the Steelers are willing to do in the trade market.

They also are not usually all that active on the waiver wire, which is how Thielen arrived.

But, I wanted to look at past Steelers players who were once in Thielen’s shoes. There are some recent stories of receivers joining this team late.

For this criteria, I’m only looking at players who did not start the season in the organization. That is, guys who spent most of the year on Pittsburgh’s practice squad and were elevated late do not count. While the Steelers have certainly rostered ex-practice squad guys who got a late-year promotion, I wanted to find situations as closest to Thielen with regard to time spent in the organization.