3 Steelers who shouldn’t be on Pittsburgh’s roster after the NFL trade deadline

The Pittsburgh Steelers have been one of the most consistent teams in the entire NFL over the past few decades. Time and time again, Mike Tomlin has led the Steelers to the postseason and won records.

But times have changed somewhat since Ben Roethlisberger retired. The team has seen a lot of movement, especially offensively. But Tomlin kept winning, even in 2024.

Pittsburgh was in the spotlight this week after coach Tomlin mentioned the idea of ​​switching quarterbacks following Justin Fields’ six-week start to 4-2. Now Fields and Wilson are both getting first-team reps this week and no one really understands the future of the position in the Steel City.

But QB isn’t the only position that could see some shakeup this season. In fact, there are currently players on Pittsburgh’s roster who won’t make it through the full season with the team. Which three players should not be on the Steelers roster after the NFL trade deadline?

The Steelers are one of those teams that likes to use their tight ends. For as long as Tomlin has been the Steelers’ coach, tight ends have been an important part of both their passing and rushing games. The same can be said for this year. Pittsburgh often uses two or even three tight end sets in both passing and rushing plays. Of their five touchdown catches this season, four of them have come in.

But the team doesn’t need more than three, maybe four tight ends. With MyCole Pruitt injured, the Steelers have Rodney Williams on the active roster. There is no viable reason why Williams would ever see extended playing time or why he should remain on the roster at all.

Freiermuth is the best team on the team. They paid him in the offseason and he is the team’s top talent. Darnell Washington is the towering tight end who has the ability to make spectacular plays. Connor Heyward is the gadget man who performs well in a number of different roles.

There’s just no room for Williams. This roster spot could be filled with a much more important position, such as edge depth or wide receiver depth.

If the Steelers have one major need this season, it’s wide receiver. Pittsburgh has George Pickens and a group of pass catchers behind them. Calvin Austin, Van Jefferson and Scotty Miller make up the group of wideouts behind Pickens. So the Steelers could and should be in the market to acquire a pass catcher or two this offseason. Combine that with an increased role for rookie Roman Wilson and there will be an odd man out.

The odd man out in this situation would be veteran Scotty Miller.

Obviously, Pickens, Austin, Wilson, and any trade acquisition would be safe on the roster. Van Jefferson would likely still remain on the team over Miller. But the Steelers would have to drop a wide receiver in order to acquire one or two wideouts.

Miller, 27, has two catches for 31 yards this season. In his best professional season, he racked up 501 yards through the air on 33 catches with Tom Brady at QB. Miller is a fringe roster player at best, and if the Steelers choose to improve their wide receiver room, he will find his way out of the roster in the coming weeks.

Kyle Allen has been on the list in recent weeks due to Russell Wilson’s injury. Allen has been a backup for most of his NFL career and ended up with the Steelers as their third QB this season.

Now that Wilson is healthy and will be active, the Steelers no longer have room for Allen on the active roster. Teams typically have two quarterbacks, not three. This is especially true when a team relies so heavily on its defense. The Steelers will need to use as many of their roster spots as possible on defensive players because they rely so heavily on defense.

There was some speculation that the Steelers could trade Russell Wilson earlier this year. These rumors emerged when some teams were very desperate for QB help, including the Miami Dolphins. But with Wilson active and ready to compete for the starting job, there’s no way Pittsburgh would even consider moving him. This would have opened up a spot for Allen to serve as a backup, but with that idea off the table, Allen will be off the roster.

This one shouldn’t be a surprise. The only chance the Steelers keep Allen is if they decide on three QBs for the roster, which is highly unlikely.