The expected moves keep coming as Adam Schefter is reporting Thursday afternoon via Twitter that the Pittsburgh Steelers will release 13 year veteran defensive end Aaron Smith. It was speculated that Smith might retire following neck surgery that forced him to miss most of the 2011 season. Smith was scheduled to count a little more than $2.984 million against the 2012 salary cap and his release will save a little more than $2.109 million in cap space.
More moves coming in Pittsburgh: Steelers releasing Aaron Smith.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) March 1, 2012
Smith, who was drafted by the Steelers in the 4th round of the 1999 NFL draft, has battled injuries for the last three seasons. He was only able to play in 15 regular season game during that span of time due to a torn rotator cuff, a torn triceps and most recently his neck injury. During his illustrious career with the Steelers he recorded 408 regular season tackles to go along with 44 regular season sacks.
The news of the forthcoming release of Smith comes just one day after the news was announced that 14-year veteran Hines Ward would be released soon. The Steelers had already terminated the contracts of Arnaz Battle and Bryant McFadden a few weeks ago and Steelers general manager Kevin Colbert made it clear last week that several more terminations were likely on the way. Ralph Cindrich, the agent for veteran linebacker James Farrior, reiterated earlier on Thursday that he did not think the chances of his client returning in 2012 with the Steelers were good.
