The Pittsburgh Steelers should be adding recently suspended wide receiver Martavis Bryant back to their 53 man roster by 4 p.m. EST Tuesday and with that action, a corresponding move will need to be made. It’s not hard to figure out who the candidates are to be waived or released to make room for Bryant and here they are in no specific order.
Roosevelt Nix – Nix has dressed and played in each of the Steelers first four games of the season after making the 53 man roster out of training camp. While he has been primarily used on special teams, he has logged a total of 23 offensive snaps in the first four games as a fullback. The fact that tight end Matt Spaeth is currently dealing with a hand fracture that forced him to miss Thursday night’s game might ultimately result in Nix staying put for the time being. Should, however, Nix wind up being waived, one would think that he would easily make it the practice squad.
Dri Archer – You can’t have one of these kind of posts without Archer’s name being included in it. However, he’s managed to survive up until now and the Steelers still dress him as their primary kickoff returner even though he’s only returned two all season. Archer hasn’t played an offensive snap since Week 1 of the season and now that starter Le’Veon Bell has returned, you can probably forget about seeing him on the offensive side of the football any time soon. Hopefully the Steelers are currently busy trying to deal Archer for a late round draft pick.
Anthony Chickillo – The Steelers promoted Chickillo from their practice squad on Wednesday and being as he was inactive Thursday night, there’s a good reason to believe that move was made in order to prevent another team from poaching him away. It should be noted, however, that outside linebacker James Harrison was dealing with an injured thumb prior to Thursday night’s game, so the promotion of Chickillo quite possibly may have had something to do with that as well.
Jesse James – While I don’t believe James will be the one jettisoned to make room for Bryant, I would feel foolish not having him on this list should that ultimately come to pass. While he has yet to dress for a game so far this season, I will be surprised if the Steelers exposed him to waivers. That doesn’t mean it can’t happen, however.
Jordan Todman – On the surface, Todman spears to be very safe, but stranger things have happened in the past. As with James, I will be very surprised if he’s sent packing as not only is he the third-best running back on the team, he also can contribute in several areas when it comes to special teams and that includes returning kickoffs.
