Not all hope is lost for those who root for the Pittsburgh Steelers to bring back Elandon Roberts. The veteran linebacker gained plenty of popularity during his first stint with the team, and that only intensified when he returned for a couple of weeks this summer. He was not the only veteran linebacker on the depth chart who failed to make the roster.
Jobs are still being situated around the league... and Malik Harrison just found one.
Harrison didn't get much attention after Roberts was shockingly let go by the Steelers, but he has finally landed a spot with an NFL team. He will be joining the New York Giants' practice squad and has yet to find a roster vacancy to fill. Perhaps this is a practice squad move for the Giants that could turn into something bigger for Harrison. It's still puzzling how he has a job while Roberts sits out there.
When you watched Pittsburgh's battle at the linebacker position during training camp and the preseason, it was clear that Malik Harrison was the odd-man-out. They were able to save a good chunk of cap space by letting him go.
Elandon Roberts didn't play with the club for too long this summer, but you could see almost instantly that he had a much better performance than Harrison.
Pittsburgh Steelers fans left scratching their heads as Malik Harrison gets a job before Elandon Roberts
It doesn't take long to notice why the Giants went with Malik Harrison over other linebackers to add to their practice squad. There is a high level of familiarity between the veteran and first-year New York head coach John Harbaugh. He drafted Harrison in Baltimore, and they remained together in the Ravens organization for four seasons.
That was before he left Baltimore as a free agent.
The Steelers signed Harrison to an expensive two-year contract in free agency back in 2025 with the hopes that he could become a solid replacement for Elandon Roberts. Ideally, Harrison would become a strong run stuffer and someone who could apply effective snaps on special teams. He was also the younger option to replace Roberts. On paper, it looked like the smart move by Pittsburgh.
Unfortunately, things just didn't work out between Malik Harrison and the Black and Gold.
He wasn't much of a positive factor last season, especially on the defensive side of the ball. The veteran continued to lose snaps to Cole Holcomb, and it happened again this summer. Harrison was being paid too much not to show up. It made him expendable going into a brutal preseason process.
At the end of the day, it appears that Elandon Roberts is still holding onto hope that he can sign onto an NFL roster. Sadly, that reunion doesn't seem to be a priority for the Steelers to consider right now. Subtracting Malik Harrison from the roster was obvious, and his addition to New York's practice squad was even clearer.
It's just bizarre he landed a job before Roberts did.
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