On the eve of cut down day, the Steelers appear to have already decided arguably their two biggest roster battles. Although the moves are not yet official, they are terminating P Cameron Johnston’s contract and waiving ILB Mark Robinson. Consequently, they are presumably signaling that P Corliss Waitman and ILB Carson Bruener will be on the 53-man roster.
Although some beat writers seemed excessively sure there would be no punting competition, Johnston managed to lose the roster battle anyway. Perhaps the Steelers end up trading him, but he will not be on their roster. You don’t go from announcing somebody’s contract to reversing course and keeping him.
Pittsburgh signed Johnston to a three-year, $9 million contract in 2024. Ostensibly one of the top punters in the NFL, he came in with the mindset of fixing their ongoing punting problems. As fate would have it, he only punted twice, collecting $4 million. He won’t have the opportunity to have his Aaron Rodgers year, as the now Steelers quarterback did with the Jets.
Seemingly already deep at inside linebacker, Pittsburgh added Carson Bruener in the seventh round. Immediately, we rushed to assume that he would unseat Mark Robinson as the special teamer of the group. After Robinson reminded us why he was on the roster during training camp, most switched back to him. But the Steelers played Bruener extensively in the preseason, and saw enough to waive Robinson, with Bruener presumably winning the roster battle.
There is arguably another roster spot or two for the Steelers that may be a bit of a battle, but neither were as contentious as this. Robert Woods, for example, seems to have fallen out of favor, with Scotty Miller overtaking him. By the end of the preseason, it would be hard to really classify it as a battle.
One might argue that the Steelers have a roster battle at quarterback, but I see it as unlikely. Pittsburgh isn’t going to waive Will Howard, and that’s the only real way I could see justifying calling it one. If Skylar Thompson is on the roster in Week 1, it will be only due to injury, I imagine.
There are also logjams along the defensive line and at cornerback, but neither have been as contentious at the punter and fifth inside linebacker spots. Logan Lee brought some intrigue to the Steelers’ roster battle along the line with his long snapping cameo, perhaps. Derrick Harmon’s injury may actually prolong the competition into the season, as he could miss some games.
As far as the secondary goes, whether the Steelers have a roster battle depends on how they feel about Cory Trice Jr. They may like his abilities, but are they tired of his unavailability? If so, then he is a non-starter for inclusion on the roster. That leaves Beanie Bishop Jr. and James Pierre to claim the final two spots.
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