The Pittsburgh Steelers announced their final roster cuts to get down to the 53-man limit with the NFL’s cutdown deadline at 4:00 p.m. today. It was previously reported that WR Robert Woods, EDGE Eku Leota, OT Dylan Cook and DL DeMarvin Leal were among the team’s cuts. The other players waived were:
DB Beanie Bishop Jr.
DB Sebastian Castro
WR Ke’Shawn Williams
DL Domenique Davis (waived/injured)
WR Brandon Johnson (waived/injured)
Vested veterans who were cut were:
DB Chuck Clark
DB James Pierre
OL Max Scharping
RB Trey Sermon
CB Cory Trice was placed on injured reserve with a designated to return label.
The biggest surprises on the list were Clark, who was signed at the onset of training camp and seemed to be safe as Pittsburgh’s fourth safety. As it stands now, the team has just three safeties on the roster in DeShon Elliott, Juan Thornhill and Miles Killebrew. Pierre was also expected to make the roster, as he has special teams value as a gunner. The team could always look to bring back one of their released players if the team puts Will Howard on IR, as expected.
Pierre and Clark seem the most likely candidates to cirlce back to the roster.
Beyond those two, CB Beanie Bishop Jr. is the biggest surprise out of the bunch, but defensive coordinator Teryl Austin said Bishop was fighting for a job ahead of the team’s preseason finale, and an injury kept him out of that game. Despite having four interceptions as a rookie, Bishop lost playing time down the stretch last season and the Steelers added Jalen Ramsey who can play the slot.
Williams impressed in the preseason and served as the team’s primary punt returner, but he always faced an uphill battle to make the roster with Scotty Miller also impressing and Ben Skowronek adding value as a blocker and on special teams. Johnson suffered a foot injury in the team’s final preseason game, hence why he was waived/injured, while it’s unknown what ailment Davis was dealing with. Davis wasn’t likely to make the roster in a crowded defensive line room anyway.
Davis and Johnson will revert to IR on split salaries if they clear waivers.
Sermon also had a nice preseason and could circle back to the practice squad, but the Steelers are set with Jaylen Warren, Kenneth Gainwell and Kaleb Johnson at running back. Scharping provided offensive line depth but the team opted to keep OL Andrus Peat, who offers guard/tackle versatility, over Scharping.
With the final round of cuts, CB Donte Kent made the roster despite not playing much during training camp or at all in the preseason with an injury. He, like Howard, could also be a candidate to wind up on IR. The team also kept eight defensive linemen, keeping both Esezi Otomewo and Logan Lee on the 53-man roster.
The initial 53-man roster is always fluid, and it wouldn’t be a surprise to see the team continue to look to make changes in the coming days.
