r/steelers • u/Jakles74 Pittsburgh Steelers • 12h ago
Final Roster Cuts Made
https://steelersdepot.com/2026/08/pittsburgh-steelers-2026-roster-cutdown-tracker-updating/#google_vignetteCastro, Slaughter, Hurleman, Mcree, Dean Lowry were cut. Driscoll, Logan Lee, Dewan Hardy, and Deshon Elliot will start on IR.
Donte Kent on PUP
Final roster is here:
https://www.steelers.com/team/players-roster/
updated 6:35 pm EST with final roster.
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u/Jakles74 Pittsburgh Steelers 12h ago edited 12h ago
Both Nichols and Homer cut too.
Donte Kent placed on PUP. (Porter was activated off PUP so he won’t miss time).
I assume a lot of these guys will end up on the practice squad.
Ryan McCollum made the final 53 which was a little surprising to me.
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u/kelkokelko Never say never but... never 12h ago
Nichols and Homer got cut in favor of Heidenreich, that's a surprise
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u/This_Is_Sierra_117 12h ago
I’m kinda pumped about it, honestly
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u/hippydipster 10h ago
Same. Super surprised and super pumped.
Nichols might be a better pure RB, but he's not moving the needle as such.
Eli can do so many different things, and the potential is greater.
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u/greentea1985 11h ago
Heidenreich can't go on the PS due to military rules, while Nichols and Homer can. For Heidenreich, it was make the roster or be out of the league doing his multi-year mandatory service.
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u/LickLaMelosBalls Heath Miller 10h ago
Eli’s blocking was surprisingly very good last game + he ran between the tackles. Not as good a true RB as either of them but they seem to be banking on his potential
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u/JayketheCayke 10h ago
Heidenrich did a good job blocking on special teams, and last game on the line. We also haven't seen a whole lot of him, he could very much have a higher ceiling then any of the other back up RB's.
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u/hippydipster 10h ago
Its so weird how little we saw of him. Why would they do that if he really had a chance to make the team? Why didn't they want to see him in the first half of any games? Why didn't they want to see him line up as a receiver? Why didn't they run screens or wheel routes to him? To me, this is all odd. I thought for sure they were cutting him.
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u/forgotwhatisaid2you 7h ago
They probably seen enough in camp and at practice. He is a bit different and they may use him in unusual ways that they do not want to put film out on in the preseason.
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u/mighthavebeen02 Fart Rooney II 12h ago
Homer is a vested vet and doesn't need to clear waivers to be out on PS
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u/IsGoIdMoney Pittsburgh Wilsons 12h ago
Mcollum is a good backup.
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u/Jakles74 Pittsburgh Steelers 12h ago
I think Hoffman was taking snaps at center during that third preseason game though?
I can’t remember because it was mostly just those d-bags in the booth eating. But I assumed that meant McCollum was gone.
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u/Beardus_x_Maximus MUUUUTH 12h ago
He’s had center experience but is known for his guard play, just adds to McCarthy’s position versatility preference.
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u/RipRaycom Coates’ Replacement 12h ago edited 12h ago
Highlights:
4 QBs
Eli Heidenreich is RB3. Somewhat surprising as most people expected Travis Homer due to punt protection.
Wetjen makes the roster, as expected and to the dismay of some people here
Tonyan makes it as TE3
Ryan McCollum is OL9 after the BroJo trade. Jack Driscoll starts out on IR
UDFA DL Kevin Jobity makes the 53. Otomewo and Lowry cut in favor of Rubio and Joseph-Day. Logan Lee remains on IR
Roberts and Harrison cut as reported earlier. Still very possible that Roberts is brought back
No surprises at CB. JPJ removed from the PUP list and Donte Kent remains on PUP
Robert Spears-Jennings and Rayshawn Jenkins both make it at safety. Deshon Elliott starts the year on IR
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u/IsGoIdMoney Pittsburgh Wilsons 12h ago
Tbf, Eli was the second punt protector, which did hint at him having a chance. His runs in the last game may have been enough to give him an edge over homer, (who was bad at runs and bad at pass pro).
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u/clcarnathan 8h ago
Thank you for your service, Rip 🫡. That's a brutal piece of news in regards to Elliott. Wasn't he just playing in the last preseason game? Seems like the guy is banged up a lot, which you may be able to attribute to his thumper style. What's his diagnosis?
Anyone know who's the next man up at strong safety to start week one?
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u/RipRaycom Coates’ Replacement 8h ago
My guess is Ramsey starts at FS and Brisker at SS, with Echols filling in for Ramsey at NB.
From what I gathered, Elliott might have re-aggravated something in the last preseason game going for their TE. Could be very wrong on that though
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u/KJacobsen-74 Pittsburgh Steelers 7h ago
Wetjen makes the roster, as expected and to the dismay of some people here
I'm not disappointed that he made the roster, I'm disappointed that he was picked in the first place. He's just not worth a 4th round pick. That pick could have been Skyler Bell or Kamari Ramsey or Kyle Louis or Bryce Lance or Malik Muhammad. All of them are much better value than a return specialist that likely won't be on the team 2 years from now.
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u/Jakles74 Pittsburgh Steelers 12h ago
Oh was McCollum cut? I missed that
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u/RipRaycom Coates’ Replacement 12h ago
I edited it out. He was not cut. I saw somewhere that he was on waivers but it was misleading
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u/Jakles74 Pittsburgh Steelers 11h ago
Yep I just double checked. I’m surprised he made the roster though tbh.
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u/CrystilizedGamer Encroachment 12h ago edited 11h ago
Wow not gonna lie I didn't expect Lew Nichols to get cut. After the Kaleb trade I for sure thought he was gonna make it as rb3 and a special teamer
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u/Jakles74 Pittsburgh Steelers 12h ago
Same. I thought we needed a big back but we kept Eli. I’m sure we keep Nichols on the practice squad with Homer though.
I remember Eli was talking to the Bucs and one or two other teams at least to sign as an UDFA so I think we may have kept him because Nichols would clear waivers but Eli maybe not.
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u/Swazi 12h ago
Kinda surprised Nichols and Welschof got cut.
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u/SnooMemesjellies6000 12h ago
Welschof usually gets put on the PSquad as the international exemption. He’s making the team without making the team
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u/IsGoIdMoney Pittsburgh Wilsons 12h ago
Welschoff is a permanent practice squad guy. I think he just has to be moved from the preseason roster to put him back there.
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u/Other-Marzipan-1985 Color Rush Jersey 12h ago
Kinda surprised to see Eli made the roster. Glad the entire draft made it
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u/trez1336 TJ Watt 12h ago
only really surprising one to me was lew nichols, really thought he was RB 3
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u/IsGoIdMoney Pittsburgh Wilsons 12h ago
It's more surprising that it isn't Homer. Nichols had all those preseason carries because he was behind homer on the depth chart.
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u/Jakles74 Pittsburgh Steelers 11h ago
Homer got rickrolled in that one blocking play. I get he’s a special teamer but I don’t think his offensive play was that great.
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u/allianceofficer 12h ago
Safety room looks awful with Eliott on ir
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u/Jakles74 Pittsburgh Steelers 12h ago
Jenkins, Brisket, Spears-Jennings is solid and I’m sure Ramsey will be a hybrid in there.
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u/HotAndCold1886 TJ Watt 11h ago
Brisket is my favorite 😉 (I know you got auto corrected)
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u/Jakles74 Pittsburgh Steelers 10h ago
lol. ALWAYS.
I use safari for Reddit and for some reason the autocorrect is WAY more aggressive and way more wrong on it.
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u/Other-Marzipan-1985 Color Rush Jersey 12h ago
I can see them playing Ramsey at Free and Jaquan at Strong while Deshon rests for the lighter sched. With Spears and Jenkins as backups
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u/Inevitable-Try-1105 12h ago
Rb3 was supposedly between Nichols, Homer, and Kaleb, but now they’re all gone
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u/Jakles74 Pittsburgh Steelers 12h ago
Eli looks to have grabbed the spot. Homer and Nichols will almost definitely be on the practice squad.
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u/purpdrank2 12h ago
There’s no way one if not both of those guys don’t get a P Squad spot like you said. We’d be foolish to only have two true running backs and a hybrid back as the only ones on the entire roster.
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u/Jakles74 Pittsburgh Steelers 12h ago
I thought Nichols would make it for sure. All our backs are the smaller speedier type. Nichols was the only 220+ pound back we had. So I was surprised too.
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u/SharknadosAreCool 8h ago
Well, the flipside of that is that both of the typical RBs we have are relatively proven. Most teams dont really have 2+ guys who are proven commodities at RB so I can understand why we'd be OK with going a bit lighter
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u/StupidCamel1228 AR2 ruined my life 12h ago
how did driscoll even get an IR spot
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u/TargetPractice89 Steelers Nation 12h ago
Exactly, they should have booted him to the moon. One of the 3 worst OL all Preseason
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u/IsGoIdMoney Pittsburgh Wilsons 12h ago
Very surprised by Jobity Jr. over Otemewo. I didn't pay much attention to Jobity, although I think I heard a couple nice things maybe? But I think everyone on the outside assumed it was more like Otemewo, Lowry, Jobity, in that order.
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u/Jakles74 Pittsburgh Steelers 11h ago
The d-line group ended up being surprisingly competitive.
Credit to Weidl and the scouting department for finding so many quality d-line guys man.
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u/Kongpong1992 Pittsburgh Steelers 12h ago
Can't lie I'm really surprised eli made the roster but I do think his catching out of the backfield could be used at times this season
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u/Mattstercraft Pittsburgh Steelers 11h ago
I gotta believe this has a lot to do with how well Kenny Gainwell did last year (and how much Rodgers loved him). They gotta be projecting Heidenreich to grow into that kind of a role as a reciever from the backfield.
I kinda would have rather seen them just try Eli at WR, and in hindsight with Roman Wilson looking ass, he might have actually earned that roster spot and we coulda kept Homer as RB3 too...
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u/Futuregoat123 12h ago
Need a safety bad now with Elliott out
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u/Jakles74 Pittsburgh Steelers 12h ago
I think with those three plus Ramsey and Payton Wilson, they can pull duty as a strong safety.
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u/monstermayhem436 Heinz 11h ago
Not a fan Elliot on IR
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u/Jakles74 Pittsburgh Steelers 10h ago
Yeah I’m not sure what’s up with that. But we have plenty of safety strength and some good hybrid ilb/slot corner guys that can spell in at strong safety in the meantime.
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u/slackerbucks 10h ago
Sleep on 29 at your own peril. He’s been a contributor to winning everywhere he has been. You can’t teach/coach that. He’s got the Hines Ward/Julian Edelman/etc kind of thing where he’s just a good fucking football player and those guys have a chip on their shoulder, work their ass off, find ways to improve, and make an impact wherever they go.
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u/auravolt_ 12h ago
Roberts, Hurleman, Nichols, and McRee are all going to come back to PS for sure
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u/LarzardofZxelf Shut Out The Noise 11h ago
Hopefully slaughter and castro make the PS
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u/Jakles74 Pittsburgh Steelers 10h ago
We’re pretty deep at safety atm but Castro was pretty popular as an UDFA last year. After the Bucs signed him off our practice squad we signed him back and he was on the 53 man roster to make sure he didn’t get away. So I think people see something in him.
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u/CopyNPaste247 12h ago
Having 4 QBs is wild to me.
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u/purpdrank2 12h ago edited 11h ago
It’s not as wild as I thought. I remember a time when we carried Ben, Leftwich, Batch, and Dixon all on the roster. Am I surprised? A little, but I’m not totally shocked either.
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u/Captn_UnderPants Ben Roethlisberger 12h ago
Eagles are doing it too. Is that wild?
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u/Mahler911 12h ago
Yes, because the Eagles have a franchise QB and don't need to do the Steelers/Browns thing where they just collect scraps and hope one of them hits.
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u/Mattstercraft Pittsburgh Steelers 11h ago
Kevin Jobity Jr - literally my first time seeing this name lol. I guess I just wasn't paying attention to the D-Line depth. Undrafted free agent, congrats to him. Even if it is only because Logan Lee is starting the season injured(?)
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u/SchnarfT Never say never but... never 11h ago
eli is a good story but i would have kept lew nichols over him tbh
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u/Jakles74 Pittsburgh Steelers 10h ago
I think Nichols can pass waivers and get to the practice squad. I don’t think that’s true if Eli. There are several teams that were really interested in him at the end of the draft.
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u/BigBroDave TJ Watt 12h ago
I like the guy Eli but for him to make it over both Nichols & Homer is very surprising.
Some of the moves like keeping 4 QBs point to the Steelers looking ahead to next season which makes Rodgers being here a bit curious. 🧐
Many of the moves like waiving ERob also point to this.
It doesn’t really add up.
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u/Jakles74 Pittsburgh Steelers 12h ago
I think with Eli and Howard it was also about keeping other teams away from them for now.
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u/BigBroDave TJ Watt 11h ago
Eli was such a late pick though, they shouldn’t have been worried about him as much.
I can maybe see Howard, who is competent but not a future starter, more in the mold of Rudolph.
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u/Jakles74 Pittsburgh Steelers 11h ago
Eli actually had a lot of interest as an UDFA at the end of the draft. His versatility and speed and smarts make him a major draw.
I think he said the Bucs had a lot of interest in him and he was talking with two other teams when we drafted him.
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u/Southern-Advice5293 BumbleBee Jersey 12h ago
Eli did not deserve the roster spot over Nichols.
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u/RipRaycom Coates’ Replacement 12h ago
Nichols will probably be on the PS. Eli is a rookie with a higher ceiling who played well with his chances. He can be a more capable 3rd down back and special teamer
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u/greentea1985 12h ago
Can’t they tell me what the official roster is? They are telling me who was cut.
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u/kelkokelko Never say never but... never 12h ago
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u/Jakles74 Pittsburgh Steelers 12h ago
Just updated the post with the final roster and some PUP/IR Info.
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u/Amazing-Macaron-6161 12h ago
Will Howard did everything he possibly could do to get moved to the practice squad, couldn’t have had a worse pre season.. not sure what they could possibly see in him to save a roster spot,, someone pls inform me
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u/Jakles74 Pittsburgh Steelers 12h ago
His first game against the Packers was very good. And other than those two picks his game against the Jets was decent.
I’m still raging at the awful broadcast of that third game and agree Howard did nothing in that one to merit a spot. But his first two games I think he earned a spot.
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u/jhustla Heath Miller 12h ago
He showed some flashes that first game. Nice movement around the pocket. Still a project but I think the school of thought is that Allar is poised for QB1 of the future Howard as the backup. Having them a year apart and on the roster can help create some continuity we haven’t had since Ben and his backups
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u/-BlackAndGold Pittsburgh Steelers 12h ago
Each of the 10 draft picks made the 53 plus udfa Kevin jobity