These Steelers must be cut during the 2023 offseason

The Steelers season hasn’t played out as many had hoped it would, and these three players should be cut during the offseason.

The Steelers have had a disappointing season to this point, and while they will have plenty of cap space in the offseason, some cuts will need to be made. The purpose here won’t be cap space; the team should have plenty of that, but if a player isn’t playing up to a certain level, there is no sense in keeping them around on a rebuilding team.

To be clear, this list is focused on players that are going to be released, not pending free agents who won’t get resigned. This list would be almost tripled in length if that were the case. This list is focused on players set to be under contract who shouldn’t be. Here are three players the Steelers should cut during the offseason.

Kendrick Green

The only player on this list on a rookie contract, Kendrick Green has been a major disappointment since being taken in the third round of the draft. As a rookie, he looked out of place at center and struggled to not get beaten on most plays. The team moved him back to guard this season, but he has barely played after struggling in the preseason.

While a rookie contract isn’t that much financially, there is little reason to keep Green around at this point. He hasn’t played consistently well anywhere along the line and has been mostly a healthy scratch this season. The team clearly doesn’t view him as a capable player and for good reason, so he needs to be cut in the offseason.

Mitchell Trubisky

It hasn’t been the redemption season Mitchell Trubisky likely wanted with the Steelers. He was signed as the prospective starter, and even though Kenny Pickett was drafted in the first round, Trubisky was still given the chance to start. It didn’t go well, and the team has moved on with Pickett as their guy moving forward.

The team can save eight million dollars by cutting him outright next year. He is far too expensive to be kept as a backup on this roster, and he likely wants another shot at proving his worth on a different team. The team may try and trade him, but no matter what, there is no good reason to have Trubisky around on this team past this season.

Ahkello Witherspoon

Ahkello Witherspoon had one of the weirdest paths to starting for this team. After getting traded late in the offseason last year, he was inactive for half of the season before getting the nod. Not only did he retain the starting role, but he was also the best cornerback on the roster last year. He parlayed that into a new two-year deal with the team.

This season hasn’t been what many hoped it would be. He has always been a very feast-or-famine player, but this season has been almost exclusively famine. He was eventually benched for James Pierre against the Eagles, and his path back to the roster doesn’t seem likely. He can be cut easily this offseason, and I doubt he is around for another season with this team.

The Steelers have a lot of work to do this off-season. While they don’t need to cut players to save cap space this season, they do need to make some moves for the future of this team. These three players should be moved on from this season as the team hoped to rebuild.