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 the fifth consecutive season in which they failed to win a postseason game—a new record for the franchise since the merger. Yet again, they find themselves undergoing the exit meeting process earlier than anticipated, which means so are we.
The Steelers did arguably perform at or above expectations this year by going 9-7-1 and making the postseason at all, a reflection of just how much talent they lost during the offseason, from the majority of the offensive line to Mike Hilton, Bud Dupree, Steven Nelson, and Vince Williams—not to mention Stephon Tuitt, essentially.
While we might not know all the details about what goes on between head coach Mike Tomlin and his players during these exit meetings, we do know how we would conduct those meetings if they were let up to us. So here are the Depot’s exit meetings for the Steelers’ roster following the 2021 season.
Player: Jamir Jones
Position: OLB
Experience: 1 Year
Jamir Jones. Remember him? The first-year outside linebacker had a strong training camp, which he pushed into the preseason. He registered two and a half sacks with five defensive stops, and did consistently well generating pressure. It was enough to earn him a spot on the 53-man roster as the number four outside linebacker.
T.J. Watt and Alex Highsmith were the starters, and they signed Melvin Ingram, the veteran former Pro Bowler, to be a strong number three. Jones did beat out rookie sixth-round draft pick Quincy Roche, who found a home with the New York Giants.
After a couple of games, during which their starters had some injury issues, the Steelers decided that Derrek Tuszka, a second-year player from the Broncos whom they signed to the practice squad at the start of the regular season, would be a better fit on the 53-man roster.
So they promoted Tuszka and waived Jones, who was claimed off waivers by the Los Angeles Rams. He did last most of the season, playing in 10 games, logging 51 defensive snaps and 206 on special teams, though he only managed five tackles.
Toward the end of the year, the Rams waived him again, this time being claimed by the Jacksonville Jaguars, for whom he would dress for two games. He played 25 defensive snaps and 15 on special teams, finishing with two tackles, 10 altogether between his three destinations in 15 games played.
In all, he played 112 defensive snaps and 240 special teams snaps during his first season. He remains with the Jaguars at this point, though we’ll see if he survives the offseason.
