The Pittsburgh Steelers have released UDFA DE Blake Mangelson, per the team’s official account on X.
His signing was announced by his agent on April 28 and made official several days later. He was around for rookie minicamp as well as the first week of OTA sessions, but he will now be looking for a job once again.
Prior to signing with the Steelers, he had also accepted a rookie minicamp invite to Minnesota Vikings but cancelled once the Steelers extended a contract offer.
In four seasons at BYU, Mangelson had 82 total tackles, 12 TFLs, 2.5 sacks, and four passes defensed including one big-man interception.
The 6050, 279-pound defensive lineman had sufficient length with 33-inch arms, but he is a little lighter than ideal in the Steelers’ odd-front defense with ends required to play both over tackle and inside over guard.
The Steelers had 91 players on their offseason roster with the signing of WR Montana Lemonious-Craig earlier this week, so this release puts them back to 90 with one available spot. They are allowed to have 91 players because Julius Welschof has a roster exemption as part of the NFL’s International Pathway program.
It is possible that the Steelers cleared a roster spot for a veteran quarterback addition. That’s expected to be Aaron Rodgers sometime before mandatory minicamp on June 10, but that isn’t a sure thing until he signs on the dotted line. There have also been rumblings of a potential trade for Atlanta Falcons QB Kirk Cousins.
With Mangelson, the Steelers had 13 defensive linemen on their roster. They will likely only keep six or seven total, so it makes sense to thin out that position group for whatever is potentially coming at the quarterback position.
The Steelers have a history of bringing back these types of players. Whether it’s at some point during camp due to injuries or next year when they sign Reserve/Future contracts, we may not have seen the last of Mangelson.
