The Pittsburgh Steelers didn’t wait around to begin their offseason moves. The Monday following the Super Bowl, the Steelers began shaping their offseason roster with the release of QB Mitch Trubisky, OT Chukwuma Okorafor, and P Pressley Harvin III. A week later, they followed those moves by releasing C Mason Cole.
Speaking to the media at the 2024 NFL Scouting Combine, GM Omar Khan was asked why those moves were made far sooner than they were required to be.
“I would say that with Pressley and Mitch and Mason and Chuks, once we made the decision that they weren’t going to be part of the 2024 team, it just felt like the right thing to do was to give those guys the opportunity to hit the free agency market sooner than later,” Khan told reporters, including our Ross McCorkle.
Trubisky, Okorafor, and Cole were due mid-March roster bonuses that the Steelers weren’t going to pick up. Trubisky sealed his Steelers fate after struggling off the bench in place of an injured Kenny Pickett during the Steelers’ 2023 stretch run and was eventually benched for QB Mason Rudolph. Now, the Steelers will try to re-sign Rudolph to compete with Pickett for the starting job.
Okorafor was benched following the team’s Week 8 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars, reportedly after making a comment about the team’s offense that landed him in Mike Tomlin’s doghouse. Rookie Broderick Jones took over the rest of the way, helping improve the Steelers’ running game. Cole saw major regression in his second year with the team, struggling to pass block and simply snap the ball consistently, leading the team to look for its long-term center in the offseason. Likely, that will come through the draft.
Harvin was still on his rookie deal and didn’t have an upcoming roster bonus. But after three years of inconsistent play and poor production, the team finally cut ties with the former seventh-round draft pick. With no punter on the roster, Pittsburgh will bring in at least one outsider. That could come through free agency or a rookie via the draft.
While the on-field play didn’t match the team’s vision, Khan made sure to praise the character of each man.
“Every one of those guys is a stand-up guy,” he said. “It was a great experience to have those guys around. That just felt like the right thing to do was to give them the opportunity to explore other options sooner than later.”
Released well ahead of the March 13 new league year, those players and their agents can begin formulating their 2024 plans, using this week’s Combine as a catalyst to talk to the 31 other teams. It remains to be seen what will happen to other players still on the roster but with questionable futures, including CB Patrick Peterson and WR Allen Robinson II. The fact both remain on the roster indicates the Steelers want them to be part of their 2024 plans. For Peterson, that could mean just picking up his roster bonus. For Robinson, that will mean re-working his contract to severely reduce his base salary.
