Pittsburgh Steelers Exit Meeting: ILB Cole Holcomb
Experience: 6 Years (2 with Steelers)
The Pittsburgh Steelers signed Cole Holcomb to a three-year contract in 2023, now two-thirds of the way through the deal. He only made it eight games into his first season with the team before suffering a major knee injury. It was unclear whether he would ever play again, but it now appears he is healthy.
Earlier this month, the Steelers reworked his contract, giving Holcomb the opportunity to remain on the roster after taking a substantial pay cut. That doesn’t guarantee him a spot later in September, but it does allow him to compete for one.
Needless to say, there is little to talk about pertaining to Cole Holcomb during the Steelers’ past season. He spent the entire year on the Physically Unable to Perform list, never activated off it. However, the team did activate his 21-day practice window, and it was recently confirmed that, physically, he would have been able to play at that time.
If the Steelers had advanced further, in fact, GM Omar Khan suggested that they might have activated Cole Holcomb. Of course, that wouldn’t have guaranteed him playing time. They already had a three-man rotation at inside linebacker with Patrick Queen, Payton Wilson, and Elandon Roberts.
While they prospectively parted with Roberts this offseason, they intend to sign Malik Harrison to replace him. With Harrison taking over that role, it’s unclear where Holcomb would fit into the Steelers’ mix.
Harrison is reportedly signing a two-year, $10 million contract. Even as a standout special teams player, that is a salary that implies a defensive role. So would the Steelers let Cole Holcomb compete for that third inside linebacker spot?
If not that, then the only function Holcomb realistically fills is experienced, veteran depth. That opens the possibility that he could spend time as a healthy scratch this upcoming season, if the Steelers keep him. In addition to Queen, Wilson, and Harrison, they still have Mark Robinson, who is a core special teamer, too. Because both Robinson and Harrison play on special teams, it does make it easier to dress five linebackers.
Regardless of what happens, the fact that Cole Holcomb even has a chance to play for the Steelers this season, or anybody else for that matter, is a good story. Many thought his career might be over after his 2023 knee injury, but now he is ready to resume his playing career. That’s worth something all on its own.
The Pittsburgh Steelers find themselves at home, the inevitable result of another early playoff exit. This is a repeated pattern for the organization, with no clear end in sight. As the Steelers conduct their own exit meetings, we will go down the roster conducting our own. Who should stay, and who should go, and how? Who should expect a bigger role next season, and who might deserve a new contract? We’ll explore those questions and more in these articles, part of an annual series.
