Van Jefferson and 3 Steelers who should be gone after Thanksgiving

The Pittsburgh Steelers are in the home stretch of the 2024 regular season. Though Mike Tomlin's team has dropped several winnable games against less-than-formidable opponents this year, the Steelers are still on the fast track for a playoff spot.

With the trade deadline long passed, Pittsburgh needs to explore every avenue to upgrade its roster for a playoff push. Several players are technically part of the team, but have just been along for the ride; nothing more.

Finding free-agent gems this late in the season is unlikely, but there are four players on Pittsburgh's roster who offer almost nothing to the team at this point in the season. Van Jefferson is one of them. Here are four players who need to be gone after Thanksgiving.

Van Jefferson, WR

In the Blizzard Bowl against the Browns on Thursday Night Football, Jefferson nabbed two catches for 39 yards. Ironically, this is more than you could expect from him at any other point in the season. With the Steelers trading for Mike Williams just before the deadline, what is the sense of deploying an underwhelming wide-out who doesn't offer a niche trait to his game?

Interestingly, the Steelers still have Van listed as a starting wide receiver on their latest depth chart, but I would take this with a grain of salt. Jefferson is a WR2 by default only, but Pittsburgh is better off with virtually every other wide receiver on the field (or tight end, for that matter).

Dean Lowry, DL

Steelers fans got excited about the addition of Dean Lowry this offseason. But apart from getting his hands up on a field goal attempt, Lowry's presence on the football field in 2024 has practically gone unnoticed.

The aging defensive lineman has a part-time role on defense and barely sees the field. According to Pro Football Focus, he's also on track to grade out as one of the worst interior defenders in the NFL this year. Literally any option they could grab in free agency at this point could supplement Lowry's role and then some.

READ MORE: The 50 greatest Pittsburgh Steelers players of all time

Scotty Miller, WR

Scotty Miller's presence on the Steelers' roster at this point in the season is baffling. Over the years Miller has been a slot receiver and occasional deep threat with the Buccaneers and Falcons, but this season, Miller has made zero impact.

Despite appearing in nine games by Thanksgiving, Miller has caught just two of four passes for 31 yards on 130 offensive snaps. Worse yet, the veteran wide receiver doesn't even offer anything on special teams. He has just nine special teams snaps under his belt this year.

Calvin Anderson, OT

We saw the chaos that ensued when Calvin Anderson was forced to enter the lineup. When Dan Moore Jr. got banged up, Anderson took his place and immediately gave up a sack. Losing first-round pick Troy Fautanu for the season was a crushing blow, but there have to be better options out there for swing tackles.

On just 11 offensive snaps, Anderson has been a nightmare. Meanwhile, the big offensive tackle has just one special teams snap this year. Outside of being a bottom-of-the-barrel depth piece, he doesn't offer anything to the Steelers' roster. Pittsburgh must look for an upgrade in free agency in the event that Moore or Broderick Jones suffers an injury late in the season.