The Pittsburgh Steelers officially cut their roster down to 53 players, and while theinitialgroup willalmost certainlychange from now until week one kicks off, the rash of moves has kept us fans busy.Theinitialroster feels pretty shocking.
While four quarterbacks felt like a forgone conclusion (albeit unusual), seven defensive linemen and only eight total linebackersseemlike a shock.
There are clearwinners from Sunday's moves, and the Steelers hope this new-look team will lead to a strong showing for the team in 2026.
Let'sstart with the most obvious name worth mentioning as a winner: Kevin Jobity. The undrafted defensivelineman fromSyracuse was an intriguing fit, but he had a quiet summer overall. While heflashed with a sack against the Bills, itdidn'tfeel like enough towarranta roster spot for therookie.
Not only did hemakethe team, but hebeat outDean Lowry, whoseemed to behaving an extremely strong camp.
While Ilike keeping young talentatan importantposition, it felt likeJobitycould have been stashed on the practice squad. The Steelers clearly saw enough in him to keep him, though, which is a massive win for the defensive talent.
Another name that felt like a lock to be cut ,I'mnotreally surehow the Steelers can justify keeping EliHeidenreichbased on how the summer went. Travis Homerwas the best specialteamsplayer, while Lew Nichols was the best pure runner out of the backups.
Heidenreich put together a solid game against the Bills, but it stilldidn'tfeel like enough for him tomakethe team. Idon'thave a good reason why he made the squad, but once again it seems like the Steelers are higher ontheseventh-roundpick than anyone else.
The Steelers made two trades ahead of cutdown day, andI think bothwere good moves for the team.
Broderick Jones was the first name on the move, being sent to the Cowboys. Kaleb Johnson was next, as heis headedto the Packers . Both fetched more than I thought they would get.
Idon'tlove trading tackle depth, but Jones was clearly on the outs in Pittsburgh.Moving upfrom the fourth round to the third isgood value, and the Steelers getanothersixth-roundpickas the cherry on top. That was value too good to pass on.
Johnson fetched far less, netting a future sixth-round pick from Green Bay . However, for a player who lookedmediocrethis offseason and had no future here, it feels like a win. Overall, a strong pair of trades toadd to Omar Khan's resume.
The Steelers officially kept four quarterbacks, and while Will Howard could be headed to injured reserve soon, this is a clear sign that he lost the quarterback battle this offseason. The hope was that he would overtake Mason Rudolph.Instead, he fell on his face.
I guess thisis better than being outright cut, but the fact that Howardcouldn'twin the backup role is a bad sign for his NFL future. We need to start viewing the former sixth-round pick as a potentialdepthoption, not the future face of this team.
The small bit of actionDeShonElliottplayed against the Jets was great. He looked like his old self and was a dynamic force on defense.Unfortunately, it seems to have cost the veteran, as he winds up on injured reserve to start the season.
The safety room is already thin, and this injurywon'thelp there. As for Elliott, he washoping to pick up where he left off, but thatwon'thappen until after week four. Itisn'tthe start of the season we wanted from the veteran defender.
This article was originally published on www.stillcurtain.com as 3 winners (and 2 bitter losers) from Steelers' roster cutdowns .
