While camp is a time for lower-level roster players to prove themselves, these four Steelers should be off the team before they can take a snap.
The Steelers have quite veterans on this roster that don’t offer a lot overall to the team. While training camp and preseason is a time for these players to improve their craft, the odds are most of these players have hit their ceiling. Assuming they don’t make any sort of leaps this offseason, these players are dead weight on the team and offer little in terms of value going forward. Here are the four Steelers players that should be cut before taking a snap.
Steelers Jordan Berry
While I recognize that Pressley Harvin will have to earn his job in training camp, it would be pretty disappointing for Jordan Berry to be the starting punter once the season starts. While Berry had a decent stretch of punting during the 2020 season, his inconsistencies popped up towards the end of the year. At the end of the day, Berry has never been horrible, but he has struggled to consistently put out good quality punts.
With the Steelers investing a draft pick in Harvin, he should be given the benefit of the doubt going forward. While I, and seemingly most of the fans want this, the team has proven that simply drafting a specialist doesn’t promise them a roster spot (I’m looking at you Colin Holba). Unless Berry kills it during camp, he should be cut well before the season begins and allow the team to roll with their newly drafted punter.
Steelers J.C. Hassenauer
While J.C. Hassenauer was an admiral backup for the Steelers last season, he isn’t a player that can be counted on to be a quality backup going forward for the team. If push came to shove, the team could keep him as a backup center only, but the additions made to the group make Haussenauer an easy cut heading into camp.
The real issue with Haussenauer is his lack of size, as he is small to play center and is far too small to serve as a backup guard. The lack of position versatility makes him less valuable, and with B.J. Finney and Kendrick Green both being better center options, Haussenauer has no place on this roster. Unless an injury occurs, Haussenauer will likely be off this roster sooner than later.
There really isn’t a spot that Haussenauer can be factored in on the roster right now. Thus, expect him to be cut before the season begins and before he can take a single snap. He did his best when called upon, but the team improved upon him in a variety of ways this offseason. Don’t be surprised when he ends up on the waiver wire due to the team no longer needing him.
Steelers Jaylen Samuels
To be frank, I was shocked last season when the Steelers decided to keep Jaylen Samuels on the roster for the season. While running back depth certainly wasn’t a strength, Samuels had seemingly shown his max potential and it wasn’t pretty. He doesn’t have the athleticism to do much as a runner and while being highly touted as a receiving back, he doesn’t have great hands nor route-running ability.
Heading into this season, there is somehow even less of a reason to keep Samuels around. Najee Harris will be the every-down back for the team, either Benny Snell or Kalen Ballage will handle the short-yardage duty, and Anthony McFarland will be the change of pace back. Each of these potential backups offers more than Samuels, and that is truly saying something considering the Steelers depth chart here isn’t filled with elite talents.
If Samuels somehow finds a way to make the roster again this season, something has gone horribly wrong. While he had the potential to be a solid third-down back, he has proven to have mediocre at best receiving ability. There are zero reasons he should be on the roster this year. If he sees any actual snaps this year, let it be from a different team.
Steelers Justin Layne
Of all the names on this list, Justin Layne has the best overall odds of making the roster. In part, this is due to the utter lack of cornerback depth on the roster due to the departures of Mike Hilton and Steven Nelson. With James Pierre leapfrogging Layne on the depth chart though, he will likely have to keep gritting his teeth on special teams if he wants to remain on the Steelers roster.
While there is no problem keeping a player purely for his special teams’ value, it ideally won’t come at the expense of some of the other players on this roster. Stephen Denmark is a similar style of cornerback from a smaller school that had serious potential before he was drafted by the Bears. As well, undrafted free agent Mark Gilbert has some injury questions he needs to answer, but he has the potential to be a key contributor if he can still play as he did earlier in his career.
Better yet, Layne may still have some sort of meager trade value. No, he wouldn’t fetch anything near the third-round pick that the Steelers used for him, but he could net a late-round pick. Of course, this would be up to either Gilbert or Denmark showing enough to warrant them making the roster, but if either did, Layne shouldn’t be on this roster by the time the regular season starts.
These four names have had varying amounts of playing time and success with the Steelers in recent years, but all four of them are likely entering their final camp. There are better options elsewhere on the roster, so the Steelers should be comfortable in moving on once the roster gets cut down. These four players should not play a snap for the team during the regular season.