DeMarvin Leal is among the Steelers’ most vulnerable veterans to miss the 53-man roster this season due to personnel turnover. Including some 2024 free-agent signings, veteran players lose jobs to the incoming class every year. The Steelers could see some pretty significant roster turnover in 2025, and in fact, they have already started.
After the efforts of last season, the Steelers will be examining their roster closely in August. Frankly, if there is a tie between a returning veteran and a new player, the new one may well win. Especially in certain areas of the roster, like the defensive line, they want to try something different.
DeMarvin Leal
The Steelers have not gotten out of DeMarvin Leal what they have put into him. Maybe they will finally in 2025, but he has a lot to prove first. Despite a strong offseason last year, that didn’t translate into the early portions of last season. Then he suffered what proved to be a season-ending injury, quashing any chances of making an impact.
A 2022 third-round pick, DeMarvin Leal is going into the final year of his rookie contract with the Steelers. By his own admission, he spent his first two seasons in the league growing personally and professionally. If he managed to put it all together since then, he had scant opportunity to prove it.
The Steelers haven’t sat idly by waiting for him to develop. They signed Daniel Ekuale and Esezi Otomewo in free agency and drafted Derrick Harmon and Yayha Black. Not all of them will make the roster, but likely two to three will. The general theme has been competition, and Leal will have plenty of it this summer.
While the Steelers did release Larry Ogunjobi and Montravius Adams, they still have an abundance of defensive linemen. Cameron Heyward, Keeanu Benton, and rookie Derrick Harmon should constitute their starting lineup, with a royal rumble behind them. If they only keep six defensive linemen, which used to be their norm, Leal might be in trouble.
Among those competing for DeMarvin Leal’s roster spot are veteran Isaiahh Loudermilk and second-year man Logan Lee. The Steelers drafted Lee in the sixth round last year and didn’t get to see much of him due to injury. Assuming Black and Ekuale take on two reserve roles, that doesn’t leave much room.
Could Leal, Loudermilk, Lee, and Dean Lowry—the Filler Ls?—all be competing for just one roster spot? Yes, they very much could be, though the Steelers might also keep seven defensive linemen. I keep seeing people mentioning the Steelers carrying eight last year, but that’s misleading. They kept Logan Lee on the initial roster but quickly moved him to IR, never intending for him to be on the 53. But he might be this year, and at the expense of DeMarvin Leal.
