As we’ve done in previous years, we’re taking a look at those Pittsburgh Steelers under Future contracts for the 2025 offseason — the ones who spent most of, if not the entire year, on the practice squad — and what we can expect from them during training camp and (hopefully) into the regular season. Today, here is an outlook on WR Lance McCutcheon.
#### Lance McCutcheon/WR Montana State – 6021, 207 pounds
If you’re ranking the most obscure Steelers on the roster, McCutcheon would be in the running. Despite having a household name in Pittsburgh’s sports, though there’s an extra “o” compared to the Pirates’ version, he’ll enter spring practices buried on the team’s receiver depth chart.
College was a different story. He shined at FCS Montana State, where McCutcheon posted the production required for a small-school kid to get big-league looks. He broke out in 2021. After never surpassing 200 yards in his first three seasons, McCutcheon posted an impressive 61/1,121/8 line as a senior. He even rushed for a touchdown. Despite the one year of serious production, he left school in the top 10 in receptions and touchdowns.
Growing up in Bozeman and staying in-state for college, the NFL took him out of Montana. His Pro Day workout was respectable: running a 4.57 40 with a 36.5-inch vertical and a great 6.82 three-cone for a 200-plus-pound prospect. Undrafted in 2022, he inked a free-agent deal with the Los Angeles Rams.
He stuck for the summer and impressed enough to make the team’s initial 53-man roster, thanks to a preseason in which he easily led the Rams with 15 receptions for 259 yards and two touchdowns. His yards led the entire NFL preseason.
McCutcheon flashed downfield, contested-catch ability, hauling in this tough sideline grab, breaking tackles, and scoring in his preseason debut.
“We felt like with all he had shown that he was definitely worthy of making our 53,” Rams [general manager Les Snead told reporters](https://www.pasadenastarnews.com/2022/08/30/rams-53-man-roster-wr-lance-mccutcheon-qb-bryce-perkins-make-the-cut/) of McCutcheon making the roster.
As a rookie, he appeared in 10 games. Despite being targeted in five games, he’s still searching for his first NFL catch and has spent most game days playing on special teams. He logged 110 such snaps in 2022, mostly on the kick-coverage and return teams.
In 2023, McCutcheon was squeezed out of a roster spot and waived during final cutdowns. He spent the rest of the year with stints on the New York Jets and Houston Texans’ practice squads. The Jets carried him through 2024 but cut him. It was a much quieter exhibition slate than his rookie year, McCutcheon catching only two passes for 25 yards.
Pittsburgh signed him in mid-October, replacing Jaray Jenkins on the practice squad. One month later, he was released in a taxi squad shuffle. The Steelers kept him on their radar [and brought him back](https://steelersdepot.com/2025/01/steelers-sign-17-players-to-reserve-future-contracts-2/), building out the team’s offseason roster after the 2024 season ended.
McCutcheon will fight to stick on a practice squad after bouncing around since that 2023 season. The George Pickens trade opens up a spot but doesn’t create a much easier path for a guy like McCutcheon, who will compete with veterans like Scotty Miller and UDFAs like Roc Taylor and Ke’Shawn Williams, who were brought in after the draft.
There are things working in his favor. The combination of his regular-season snaps — light as they are, they are still NFL action — and special teams background won’t be new to him the way it will be for Taylor and Williams. On offense in past summers, he’s played slot and outside, increasing his overall position flexibility, versatility, and thus value. McCutcheon has size and flashed in a preseason years ago, and maybe he does it again.