When the Steelers elected not to keep DeMarvin Leal on the 53-man roster, they did something they had rarely done in almost a decade. For only the second time since 2017, they waived a top-three draft pick. And even this case is different from that one, as we’ll discuss below.
Leal is the first top-three draft pick waived by the Steelers under these circumstances since Justin Layne in 2022. A 2019 third-round pick, Layne simply never developed, failing to make the roster in his fourth season. He did go on the play in the NFL later that season, but never signed with a team in 2023.
Prior to Leal and Layne, there was Senquez Golson in 2017. A second-round pick in 2015, Golson suffered annual injuries and never even had an opportunity to play. Although Leal has his own injury history, he was healthy this offseason—he simply didn’t make the team.
The Steelers selected DeMarvin Leal in the third round of the 2022 NFL Draft out of Texas A&M. An athletic prospect with ‘tweener size, the Steelers hoped he could be something of a chess piece. During his three seasons here, he played everywhere except in the secondary. Yes, he even played some snaps off-ball at linebacker depth. This summer, he converted full-time, it seems, to outside linebacker.
Leal is far from the Steelers’ first underperforming high draft pick in the past decade, but they never had to waive one purely due to performance in that time. As mentioned with Golson, he was not healthy, even missing the final preseason game before his release.
In other instances, however, the Steelers managed to recoup some value. They traded Chase Claypool, Kenny Pickett, George Pickens, Sammie Coates, and Kendrick Green. Although Pickens was very talented, his production never matched his locker room and on-field issues. However, the Steelers did not extend DeMarvin Leal the same courtesy they had shown many other high draft picks.
Because he had a fully guaranteed contract as a first-round pick, the comparison is not as relevant, but the Steelers didn’t think enough of Najee Harris to give much consideration to re-signing him this offseason. The same goes for Devin Bush and, to a lesser extent, Terrell Edmunds. Unlike Leal, however, James Washington, Sean Davis, and Markus Wheaton all played out their rookie contracts.
Because of the Steelers’ history in recouping value for underperforming high draft picks, I wondered if they might trade him. Despite keeping eight defensive linemen and four outside linebackers, plus more of both on the practice squad, however, they re-signed DeMarvin Leal to the practice squad.
So he is still with the team, but that in itself speaks to his status. The fact is, nobody claimed Leal off waivers, as they did for Justin Layne. Nobody claimed Golson off waivers, but he was injured. He did make the practice squad over Eku Leota, who spent last season there, as well as on the 53. And with Nick Herbig dealing with an injury, he might even dress as an elevation for Week 1.
