We've reached that point in the year -- the time that hundreds of NFL players around the league dread with every fiber of their being. By Tuesday at 4:00 p.m. Eastern Time, all 32 ball clubs must reduce their roster from 90 players down to just 53. This means cutting upwards of 40 percent of their summer roster. The Pittsburgh Steelers are one of the first teams making roster moves.
General manager, Omar Khan, kicked things off with his first wave of roster cuts on Saturday evening. Unfortunately, we still have a long way to go in order for the Steelers to be roster-compliant by the deadline.
All the while, other teams will be doing the same. Pittsburgh was just one of four teams to play their final preseason game on Thursday night this past week, which gave them a day or two head start on these decisions compared to other teams. But this is hardly a significant amount of time when you consider how many decisions they still have to make.
While some Steelers roster cuts have been a long time coming, others are going to prove to be much more difficult decisions. Throughout the summer, there have been some players on the roster bubble who could go either way. Some of these players have proven worthy of a spot on the 53, but because of the depth at certain positions on the team, there simply may not be enough room to stick around.
Many of these players could be heading to the Pittsburgh Steeler practice squad this year, while some will press their luck with new teams. For many, however, this could be their last shot to crack an NFL roster. Here's our Steelers roster cuts live tracker for 2023.
Steelers roster cuts 2023:
- QB Tanner Morgan
- RB Greg Bell
- RB Xazavian Valladay
- RB Darius Hagans
- WR Dez Fitzpatrick
- WR Jordan Byrd
- WR Dan Chisena
- WR Aron Cruickshank
- TE Zach Gentry
- TE Rodney Williams
- OT Le'Raven Clark
- OL William Dunkle
- OG Kevin Dotson (Traded to Rams)
- OG/C Kendrick Green (Traded to Texans)
- OG/C Ryan McCollum
- DT Breiden Fehoko
- DL Jonathan Marshall
- DL Manny Jones
- DL James Nyamawaya
- ED David Perales
- ED Quincy Roche
- ED Toby Ndukwe
- LB Nick Kwiatkoski
- LB Tanner Muse
- LB Forrest Rhyne
- LB Kuony Deng
- CB Luq Barcoo
- CB Chris Wilcox
- CB Lavert Hill
- CB Madre Harper
- S Trenton Thompson
- S Tre Norwood
- S Kenny Robinson
- S Jalen Elliott
- DB Nevelle Clarke
- K B.T Potter
- LS Rex Sunahara
Prior to the first wave of Steelers roster cuts, Pittsburgh had recently released a pair of wide receivers: Cody White and Hakeem Butler. White has been a stable presence at Steelers training camp for several years now and a former member of the practice squad. Meanwhile, Butler was an exciting addition from the XFL thanks to his remarkable size, but he was a long shot from the beginning and didn't do enough to impress.
The Pittsburgh Steelers announced the first wave of roster cuts on Saturday evening, and there weren't any names that we didn't expect. Madre Harper was an athletic cornerback, but the fact that he was playing very late into preseason games wasn't a good sign for him. The same can be said about WR Dan Chisena as well as some of the more recent additions to this group.
Tanner Muse has been one of the most surprising cuts of the group. Many of us here at Still Curtain predicted that he would make the team as the fifth and final off-ball linebacker in 2023. This won't be the case. Other somewhat surprising names that have been cut just before the deadline include TE Zach Gentry, DT Breiden Fehoko, S Trenton Thompson, and S Tre Norwood.
During roster cuts, the Steelers also elected to trade Kevin Dotson to the Rams. This saves them a roster spot and their pick-swap deal gives them increased draft capital on Day 3 of the NFL Draft over the next two years. Just hours before the deadline, Pittsburgh traded Kendrick Green to the Texans for a future 6th-round pick.
These decisions certainly impact the outlook of the Pittsburgh Steelers roster in 2023. This is always a hard time of the year for many players. Let's hope those who have been released land back on their feet soon. We can expect some to return to the practice squad.