The Pittsburgh Steelers are back in the UPMC Rooney Sports Complex earlier than they had anticipated, having been ousted from the postseason in the opening round, which unfortunately marks a slight improvement from the past two seasons, during which they did not even qualify for the playoffs altogether. They have now gone four seasons without securing a victory beyond regular season play.
Yet again, they find themselves undergoing the exit meeting process earlier than anticipated, which means so are we.
They did manage to go 12-4 during the regular season, and secured their first AFC North title since 2017. They posted a new franchise record by opening the season with 11 consecutive wins. But of course, it all fell apart after that. Their only victory after that required a 17-point comeback.
We might not know all the details about what goes on between head coach Mike Tomlin and his players during these exit meetings. But we do know how we would conduct those meetings if they were up to us. So here are the Depot’s exit meetings for the Steelers’ roster following the 2020 season.
Player: Christian Kuntz
Position: LS/OLB
Experience: 0 Years
Of all the in-season practice squad players that we are covering to wrap up our exit meeting series, Christian Kuntz has the longest history with the team, even though he was only signed in-season a year ago in late November.
The Steelers originally signed Kuntz during training camp in 2019. Kuntz served as an additional long snapper to Kameron Canaday, who had by then already established himself as their starter. A Duquesne graduate, however, he remained in Pittsburgh’s rolodex.
Waived at the end of the preseason in 2019, Kuntz next surfaced in the XFL last year, playing for the Dallas Renegades. The Steelers brought him back in 2020 at the end of March. Originally, though, Pittsburgh waived him in August as part of their efforts to trim their roster down to 80.
The team signed him to their practice squad on November 24, where he would spend most of the season. He was let go for less than a week in December, cut on the 23rd and re-signed on the 29th. Kuntz remained there for the rest of the regular season, but the team let him go to make room for an extra defensive back, Trevor Williams, due to injuries. Pittsburgh retained Kuntz on a Reserve/Future contract when the year finished.
Kuntz actually originally came out of college in 2017. He spent some time on offseason rosters with the New England Patriots, the Denver Broncos, and the Jacksonville Jaguars during the first two years after graduation, so he’s been in a number of training camps already.
He is really more of an outside linebacker by trade. Long snapping is more something that he picked up along the way. At the NFL level, after the Patriots let him go his rookie year, he decided to focus on that more. He did, however, play defense in the XFL.
