It’s rare that the Pittsburgh Steelers go into a regular season with a 53-man roster consisting entirely of players who spent all or a portion of the offseason with the team. They frequently make late additions, often after the initial 53-man roster has been set, or as it’s being set. Even with the depth that they have this year, it’s very possible we do see yet another late addition before kickoff on Sept. 10.
Indeed, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reporters Ray Fittipaldo seems to think that is going to happen. In his final 53-man roster prediction, he projects that CB James Pierre is not going to make the team—and that, accordingly, the Steelers will go into the regular season with another boundary cornerback added from outside of the roster.
“James Pierre doesn’t make the cut in this projection”, he wrote late last week following the team’s final preseason game. “The Steelers won’t go into the season with only three outside corners, so look for Khan to acquire one or grab one off the waiver wire”.
Fittipaldo only projects the team to carry nine defensive backs, with Patrick Peterson, Levi Wallace, and Joey Porter Jr. as the only outside-capable cornerbacks. He also projects Chandon Sullivan, Elijah Riley, and the usual safeties, including special teams captain Miles Killebrew.
The Steelers have already released a couple of defensive backs, most notably CB Madre Harper, who does have some NFL experience. He was not projected to make the roster, but some felt he could make a run at the practice squad.
He was one of the other in-house options at outside cornerback, however, a list that is not particularly long, especially if you are looking for plausible candidates for the 53-man roster. Chris Wilcox and Luq Barcoo would be the primary contenders.
Most do seem to verge from Fittipaldo’s projection with Pierre making the team, but that is largely because of Cory Trice Jr.’s season-ending knee injury. The rookie seventh-round pick drew a lot of attention early on before going down. He unfortunately did not make it into a preseason game, but even defensive coordinator Teryl Austin brought his name up recently.
It’s impossible to guess who might be made available over the course of the next couple days as teams make their roster cuts, whittling their team down from 90 players to 53 by Tuesday at 4 PM. The Steelers added Ross Cockrell on cutdown day, and previously acquired players like Brandon Boykin and Justin Gilbert via trade.
Looking at players who are currently available, William Jackson III is still sitting out there. Former second-round draft pick Greedy Williams was recently let go by the Eagles. Perhaps Kyle Fuller is ready to resume his career after tearing his ACL in September 2022. But would any of these players really be better than Pierre?
Of course, there are other names out there to consider, and there will be plenty more when cuts are made. The Steelers like to make trades at this time of year, and they even have some commodities themselves they may want to unload.
