When teams select players in the NFL Draft, it's with the attention that they can make the final 53-man roster. Not every pick from every team is going to make the roster, and the Pittsburgh Steelers already have a draft selection on thin ice before they enter training camp.
With their final selection in the 2025 NFL Draft, the Steelers turned their card in for Central Michigan cornerback Donte Kent. Since the Kevin Colbert regime, Pittsburgh's front office has been known to target players from the MAC conference from time to time, and the hope was that Kent could earn one of the final spots in the secondary.
Now, the uphill battle for the rookie couldn't be steeper.
The Pittsburgh Steelers doomed Donte Kent's roster chances with the Jalen Ramsey trade
Even after signing veteran cornerbacks Darius Slay and Brandon Echols in free agency this year, there was a path for Donte Kent to make the roster when the Steelers took him in the seventh round.
Thanks to Kent's experience playing anywhere from slot cornerback to safety in college, and with some added punt return experience, the rookie still had a shot to make the team. Before the Jalen Ramsey trade, the roster locks were Joey Porter Jr. and Darius Slay, while it was expected that Cory Trice Jr. and Brandon Echols would make the team.
That would have left Kent competing with Beanie Bishop Jr. and James Pierre for what might be the final spot at the position. But the Ramsey trade instantly put Kent on thin ice with the Steelers.
The addition of Ramsey pushes everyone down a spot on the depth chart. Even if the Steelers keep six cornerbacks this year, this could look something like Ramsey, Porter, Slay, Trice, Echols, and Bishop or Pierre. It's safe to say that Kent is clearly on the outside looking in, and it may take an injury or two for the rookie not to begin his career on the practice squad.
Don't get me wrong, the Steelers are a better team after the Jalen Ramsey trade. You can never have too much depth at the cornerback position, and Pittsburgh is suddenly in good shape at a position that is routinely one of the worst on the roster.
But as training camp is set to begin, Donte Kent is already looking like the outcast. Perhaps the Pittsburgh Steelers will give him a shot a free safety after trading Minkah Fitzpatrick to the Dolphins. His chances of sticking at safety might be better than making the team as a cornerback at this point.