How the Steelers can create $75 million in cap space in 2023

The Steelers can easily trim a lot of this roster

The Steelers have quite a few names that stick out as overpaid and not worth the cap hit for the 2023 season. Below is a breakdown of who is likely cut and how much cap relief they then provide.

Chukwuma Okorafor

While Okorafor isn’t a horrible player, he has seemingly peaked as a tackle, making him a very average and unspectacular player. While having a lineman like that isn’t the end of the world, paying him close to 9 million dollars next season is. I think he gets cut before the league’s new year, saving the team roughly 9 million in cap space.

William Jackson

As already mentioned earlier, Jackson was brought over via trade at the deadline, and injuries kept him off the field the entire year., While the Steelers would no doubt like to see what Jackson can provide, his 12-million-dollar cap hit can be saved entirely if he is cut. While I think there is a world where he is back on a much cheaper deal, the team should save the 12 million in space now by releasing him.

Mitch Trubisky

Mitch Trubisky didn’t have the season many expected the former first round pick to have with the Steelers. He struggled to show a lot of desirable traits and will likely be set to join another team in a similar situation to where Pittsburgh was last year (bridge quarterback for an eventual rookie). The Steelers save 8 million dollars by moving on from him.

Ahkello Witherspoon

I had admittingly high hopes for the Steelers when they got Ahkello Witherspoon back last offseason. He was arguably the best cornerback for the team at the end of 2021, and his deal was pretty cheap. Witherspoon failed to continue that impressive play, and the team will save an easy 4 million dollars by releasing him.

Gunner Olszewski

I initially liked the Gunner Olszewski deal last season, as he could wear multiple hats on special teams and was a good returner for the Patriots. Muffed punts led to him getting benched there, and the rest of his play was mediocre. He is an easy choice to get cut once the new league year rolls around and save this team 2 million dollars.

While there are other moves that I think could happen, these are the ones I would virtually lock in right now. The team will likely create more cap space with additional moves, but these cuts net the team a healthy 35 million dollars in cap space to work with.

Updated cap space: 36.5 million