The Pittsburgh Steelers have reached the halfway point of the 2025 NFL season, and fans can’t quite gauge whether this team is a true contender or not. Their two-game losing streak was sandwiched between their two most dominant wins. As a collective, they’ve been so up and down, it’s hard to tell what their ceiling really is.
Individually, it’s a bit easier to assess where many of the players on the roster stand. There’s been plenty of standouts, others who appear to be fixtures of a longer-term plan, and those who won’t be around much longer than they have to be.
We’re focusing on the latter at the halfway point. After the Steelers’ quiet day at the NFL trade deadline, a lot of focus will divert to these players down the stretch. And if their current production continues, they won’t be back for 2026.
The halfway point has exposed who’s fading from the Pittsburgh Steelers' long-term plans
Cornerback Darius Slay
These aren’t listed in any particular order, but Darius Slay might be the most obvious inclusion on the list. At this point, his season has been rough enough to wonder if his career might not end the same way Patrick Peterson’s did in Pittsburgh: unceremoniously.
It’s frustrating for Steelers fans, because as weary as they were that Pittsburgh signed another aged cornerback, at least Slay was coming off one of his strongest seasons in Philadelphia. He didn’t have an interception for the first time since his rookie season, but he allowed a 54% completion percentage, less than 500 yards, and only gave up two touchdowns, his best marks in each statistic since Pro Football Reference began tracking in 2018.
But this season, he’s allowed 78% of passes to be completed while quarterbacks have a 113.4 rating when targeting him, the worst marks of his career. He has just three pass deflections on 36 targets. Couple in his near-weekly trips to the medical tent for bumps and bruises, and Steelers fans are reaching their limit with the former All-Pro talent.
Slay signed a one-year deal, and on New Year's, he’ll turn 35. If his struggles continue, there’s no doubt Pittsburgh will opt to look in a new direction at cornerback and let Slay pursue new opportunities elsewhere, which likely won’t be on the field.
Safety Juan Thornhill
Juan Thornhill is another easy inclusion, seeing as he was recently benched anyway. Jalen Ramsey is the new starting free safety, which puts Thornhill in a reserve spot in the backend of the defense.
The move was warranted. Thornhill allowed an 88% completion percentage as quarterbacks had a 137.0 rating when targeting him. With just a single tackle for loss, a single pass deflection, and a single fumble recovery in his stat sheet this season, his impact on the defense was overwhelmingly negative, and that’s part of why he went to the bench against Indianapolis.
The splash plays that ensued weren’t solely because Thornhill was benched, but it certainly played a part.
Thornhill also signed a one-year ‘prove it’ deal, and after failing to prove it, Pittsburgh will most likely move on after the 2025 season ends.
READ MORE: Jalen Ramsey saw his Steelers move to safety coming a mile away
Guard Isaac Seumalo
Unlike the first two inclusions on the list, Isaac Seumalo is included because of his age and contract status alone rather than his play. Seumalo just turned 32 years old, and his contract ends after this season.
His recent nagging pectoral injury isn’t a huge concern just yet, and hopefully it won’t become one. But he missed four games with a pectoral injury last year, and with age and timing playing against him, the lingering injury is the last thing he or the Steelers' offense needs.
Still, even if Seumalo’s injury doesn’t affect him the rest of the way, Pittsburgh is loaded up with picks in next year’s draft and will be looking to continue its rebuilding efforts in the trenches. Seumalo is the only starting veteran on the Steelers’ offensive line, and Pittsburgh could find his replacement in next year’s draft or even in free agency.
Cornerback Cory Trice
Unfortunately for Cory Trice, his imminent departure strictly comes down to his unavailability. Since being drafted in the seventh round in 2023, he’s played just 253 regular-season snaps, and they all happened last year within a six-game stretch.
He’s spent every other week of his career injured.
Trice was set to return from Injured Reserve with his 21-day practice window opening up last week. With Slay’s issues on the outside and Jalen Ramsey’s move to free safety, Pittsburgh really needed Trice to come back strong off the injury. Unfortunately, he suffered a setback ahead of the Colts game and was quickly ruled out.
If Trice can’t return to the active roster after the 21-day window, his season will be over, and so will be his time with the Steelers. Fans remember the patience the Steelers had with Senquez Golson, a 2015 second-round pick whose career was over by 2019 without playing a single snap in the NFL.
Trice’s trajectory is too similar at this point, and unfortunately, the writing may be on the wall for his future with the franchise at this point. His rookie contract extends into 2027, but if he can’t be available for Pittsburgh, the time will come sooner for them to cut their losses.
Defensive Lineman Isaiahh Loudermilk
Isaiahh Loudermilk isn’t a name Steelers fans have heard in a while, and it’s because he’s been injured since Week 2. Still, in the first two games of the season, Loudermilk played 37 defensive snaps and 11 on special teams and had zero stats whatsoever.
He was put on injured reserve with a high ankle sprain in mid-September, but hasn’t had his 21-day practice window open up yet. The Steelers had to sign Brodric Martin off the Chiefs’ practice squad after losing Daniel Ekuale for the season with a torn ACL, in part because Loudermilk hasn’t returned.
Even if Loudermilk does return this season, snaps will likely be hard to come by. First-round rookie Derrick Harmon has played well as a starter, fellow fifth-round rookie Yahya Black has been quieter than his preseason play gave fans hope for, but he’s been solid, too.
Loudermilk has long been a stable, if not largely unproductive, reserve lineman since he was drafted in the fifth round in 2021. But after another unproductive season, this one hampered by his injury, it could be his last with the black and gold.
Defensive Lineman/EDGE DeMarvin Leal
DeMarvin Leal was cut at the 53-man roster deadline ahead of the season, but was brought back to the practice squad and came back to the main roster after Loudermilk went on IR. Still, he’s played in just three games and has logged only 26 snaps.
A healthy scratch most weeks, Leal’s days are numbered. Without offering more help on special teams or as a reserve option, both of which he keeps getting passed over for, this season is proving to be his last in Pittsburgh.
Leal has struggled to find a fit in Pittsburgh’s defense since he was drafted in the third round of the 2021 draft. He’s been too slow to play on the edge and a touch undersized to play as a down lineman. It seemed unlikely that he would even come back to Pittsburgh after he was initially cut because of that.
If it does prove to be his final season with the Steelers, hopefully, he lands somewhere where he fits the scheme and can find an opportunity. I’m sure I’m not alone in thinking there’s a solid player hidden under the surface in Leal that Pittsburgh couldn’t find a way to incorporate into their defense.