While the NFL is beginning their free agency period, the UFL is beginning the start of the season. With kickoff of the XFL-USFL merger set for later this month, the United Football League trimmed its rosters with a first round of cuts. Each of the eight teams had to trim their roster to 58 by Sunday, a process that will continue until each team has a 50-man roster later in March. Among those 58 cut, six are former Steelers. NFL Draft Diamonds offered the complete list of names.
The most notable cut is RB Jaylen Samuels, released by the San Antonio Brahmas. A fifth round pick of the Steelers in the 2018 NFL Draft, he briefly held court in the team’s backfield. Most of his time came the first two years, including 66 rushes in 2019, a year in which Pittsburgh’s backfield sustained multiple injuries.
Known for his versatility, Samuels also caught 73 passes across the 2018 and 2019 seasons. But he fell out of favor by 2020, recording only nine carries, and was off the team by 2021. He appeared in five games for the Houston Texans that season. After a spring stint with the Arizona Cardinals, he spent 2023 in the XFL before being drafted by the Brahmas in the 2024 UFL Draft, something we noted at the time. Though just 27, his time playing professional football may be over.
Samuels wasn’t the only former Steelers’ running back to receive his pink slip. Kerrith Whyte Jr. was cut by the Memphis Showboats. His time with Pittsburgh – and in the NFL – was brief and contained to 2019. With injuries battering the Steelers’ backfield, Whyte was signed mid-season and carried the ball 21 times for a healthy 5.1 yard average, flashing a bit of speed and dynamism. Since, he’s bounced from roster to roster but has yet to appear in another regular season game.
A pair of defensive linemen were let go Sunday in Donovan Jeter and Doug Costin, released by the D.C. Defenders and Arlington Renegades, respectively. Jeter was an undrafted free agent in in 2022, he saw sparse time buried on the Steelers’ depth chart and was released at final cutdowns. He’s spent time with three other NFL teams, Washington, Chicago, and the New York Giants but hasn’t taken a regular season snap. Costin has nine career starts, all with Jacksonville in 2020, but was among the first wave of cuts in Pittsburgh, only flashing when he batted a handful of passes in practice.
Wide receiver Cody Chrest was also dumped by the Brahmas. He had just a cup of coffee as a Steeler, signed on May 25, 2023 and released June 5, 2023. Undrafted out of Sam Houston State, he’s spent time with the Indianapolis Colts and Green Bay Packers.
Finally, DB Antoine Brooks Jr. was let go by the Showboats. A sixth round pick of the Steelers in 2020, he momentarily was given the chance to secure the Steelers’ starting slot corner job but injury and uninspiring play robbed him of the chance. He appeared in four games for Pittsburgh in 2020, logging 29 snaps, before winning a ring with the Los Angeles Rams in 2021.
One other notable non-Steelers cut was DT Boogie Roberts, released by the Defenders. He served as one of the star players for the now-defunct Pittsburgh Maulers, a franchise that didn’t survive the merger in large part due to not having an established home stadium venue.
For all seven of these names, continuing their professional football career will be a challenge. Cut from the one spring league that now exists, they’ll have to wait and see if injuries get them back on the roster once the UFL season begins March 30. But getting cut before even final cutdowns in a spring league will have these guys, and all the others, thinking about moving on with life’s work.
