The Pittsburgh Steelers made a somewhat surprising roster move on Wednesday night. On the eve of their preseason opener against the Green Bay Packers, the Steelers signed former player and veteran linebacker Elandon Roberts to a one-year deal, per ESPN's Adam Schefter.
Roberts had an excellent two-year run with Pittsburgh in 2023 and 2024—serving a niche role as a downhill, run-defending linebacker on early downs. After his contract expired, the Steelers shifted gears in the 2025 free-agency period, going with the younger Malik Harrison, formerly of the Baltimore Ravens.
At 32 and coming off an up-and-down season with the Las Vegas Raiders in 2025, Robinson didn't quite look like the same player we saw with the Steelers in 2024. However, he's still a tone-setting linebacker and quality run defender.
While it's hard to say exactly what Roberts' role with Pittsburgh will look like at this stage of his career, the decision to sign the veteran linebacker makes two future Steelers roster moves painfully obvious.
These two roster moves will soon follow after the Pittsburgh Steelers' decision to sign Elandon Roberts
1. Malik Harrison will be released
The Steelers need a 90-man roster to get through the preseason, but in what could be a corresponding move soon or right before the roster cutdown deadline, Malik Harrison will be gone.
Harrison was already one of the 'losers' of training camp as his stock was plummetting. The backup linebacker quickly fell out of favor with the team and was running with the third-team defense during practice. This was reflected in the team's initial 2026 depth chart, which had Cole Holcomb and Carson Bruener listed as the second-team linebackers.
Harrison already felt like a roster cut before signing Roberts; now this move is all but solidified.
2. The Steelers will keep five off-ball linebackers
For a while, it was looking like the Steelers might break tradition and keep only four off-ball linebackers on their initial 53-man roster. I've been vocal about this on the Still Curtain Podcast.
With Harrison's disappointing training camp, the talent at linebacker didn't justify a fifth spot devoted to the position. It seemed much more logical to keep just four off-ball linebackers and use the valuable roster spot on another player 'on the bubble', who could offer more value to the team at a different position. (The Steelers could always call up a player from the practice squad if one of the top four linebackers gets injured).
Instead, the Elandon Roberts signing essentially guarantees that the Pittsburgh Steelers will keep five off-ball linebackers this year. Patrick Queen and Payton Wilson are still the projected starters; now Roberts and Holcomb could rotate in for early-down work. Meanwhile, Carson Bruener logged 287 special teams snaps as a rookie last year, and there's no reason to send him packing.
I was on the fence about whether the Steelers would keep four or five off-ball linebackers before, but the Roberts move makes this decision obvious—it will be five.
Add us as a preferred source on Google