Eight days after the team announced that they had released him as part of a trio of veterans cut one day after the Super Bowl, former Pittsburgh Steelers’ offensive tackle Chukwuma Okorafor was officially released Tuesday and was on the NFL transaction sheet with the move, according to NFL Insider Aaron Wilson.
Okorafor was reportedly released by the Steelers on Feb. 12 alongside quarterback Mitch Trubisky and punter Pressley Harvin III. However, Okorafor’s release was never made official to the NFL as part of the transaction sheet, creating some questions as to what was going on with the situation, whether the Steelers were trying to work out a trade or something else.
That was all put to rest Tuesday afternoon, though, per Wilson.
Okorafor’s release from the Steelers was anticipated after he was benched ahead of the Week Nine matchup against the Tennessee Titans on Thursday Night Football for rookie Broderick Jones.
A former third-round pick of the Steelers in the 2017 NFL Draft coming out of Western Michigan, Okorafor started 59 games for the franchise in his tenure, including all 16 games in the 2021 and 2022 seasons, becoming one of the more durable players for the Steelers along the offensive line.
But during the 2023 season he found himself in Mike Tomlin’s doghouse, leading to him losing his job. Okorafor was benched, reportedly for something he said during the team’s Week Eight loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars, leading to the change to Jones, who started every game from Week Nine on for the Steelers at right tackle.
Okorafor was set to make $8.75 million in 2024 as part of the third year of his three-year, $29.25 million deal. He was due a mid-March roster bonus of $4 million that the Steelers were never going to pick up, especially after benching him. With his release, he will incur a $3.083 million dead money cap charge.
Why it took eight days for the transaction to officially hit the wire remains unclear, but the Steelers didn’t work out a trade with any team and still cut ties with Okorafor. Hopefully, some more information will come out in the days and weeks ahead regarding why it took so long to hit the transaction log for the NFL.
