3 biggest surprises from Steelers roster cuts

2. Steelers cut LB Tanner Muse

I have to admit, I was a bit concerned about the future status of Tanner Muse when I witnessed him playing so late into each of the three preseason games for the Pittsburgh Steelers. Still, I was convinced that Mike Tomlin would keep a fifth off-ball linebacker around for 2023 and that he would be that guy.

Muse has very few defensive snaps since entering the league a few years back, but he has graded out well on special teams and has carved out a niche in this department early in his career. I was also hopeful that his 4.4 speed and excellent athletic traits would help him stick around as added insurance at the linebacker position. This apparently wasn't enough.

Muse was released ahead of the roster cutdown deadline, and fans were a little disappointed with this decision. After a rough start to the preseason against the Buccaneers, Muse bounced back with a huge performance against the Bills -- grading out as the best defender on the team -- before finishing strong in the finale against the Falcons.

If the Steelers don't add another linebacker, this will be the first time since 2017 that Pittsburgh didn't keep 5 players at the position. I really thought Muse was going to be the new Marcus Allen for this team in 2023, but that won't be the case. Fans were very surprised to learn that the team would not be keeping Muse nor fellow LB Nick Kwiatkowski for special teams purposes.