5 Steelers players on the roster bubble ahead of OTAs

The Steelers are set to start their organized team activity soon. Here are five players who could be on the roster bubble ahead of OTAs. 

After being in a financial hole to begin the 2021 offseason, the Steelers did pretty much everything in their power to turn that around and keep their roster competitive for the upcoming season. This included reworking Ben Roethlisberger’s contract and adding voidable-year deals to several players in an effort to free up cap space this year.

Now that nine players have been added to the roster from the 2021 NFL Draft and a few other undrafted free agents will get a shot to crack the final 53-man roster this year, here are five players who are clearly on the roster bubble for Pittsburgh prior to OTAs:

J.C. Hassenaur, center

J.C. Hassenauer dressed for 15 games last season and started 4. However, he’s got a massive uphill battle to earn a roster spot at this point. The Steelers brought back former interior offensive lineman B.J. Finney this offseason and drafted Kendrick Green in the third round.

While Finney signed for the veteran minimum and is not a big investment, Green will be given equal opportunity to earn a starting gig in 2021, and the Steelers already declared that he will be making the switch to center full-time in the NFL. Hassenauer (age 25) likely only has one path to the final roster, and that includes beating out the older B.J. Finney in order to stick around in Pittsburgh. Being 4 years younger and having played more NFL snaps last season, perhaps there’s a chance he can do this.