Pittsburgh Steelers defensive end DeMarvin Leal runs out of the tunnel for a game on Oct. 29, 2023. — Ed Thompson / Steelers Now
The Pittsburgh Steelers arrive for training camp this week at Saint Vincent College, with their first practice taking place on Thursday, July 24th. The front office has been extremely active this offseason, making a plethora of moves, even a few splash trades that seemed out of character compared to how they’ve historically operated. Time will tell how those decisions will play out in the long run, but there are even more decisions to be made in the near future, including having to trim the roster down from 90 to 53 players.
In the coming days, we’ll discuss positional battles that are worth keeping an eye on, but first, we must discuss some veterans that are firmly on the roster bubble. This is a short list of players that have been on the roster in years past, even contributing to varying degrees, but will need strong summers in order to make the cut this time around. It’s safe to say that the clock is ticking!
RB Cordarrelle Patterson
Once the league enacted the new kickoff rules, the Steelers jumped at the opportunity to sign the NFL’s all-time leader in kick return touchdowns. But Patterson, now 34 years old, missed most of training camp due to injury and could never get rolling in his first season in the black and gold. His 21.8 yards per return average was the worst in the league for players with a minimum of eight attempts. His history with offensive coordinator Arthur Smith could work in his favor, but with the team inking Kenneth Gainwell to a cheaper one-year deal to serve as the third cog in the rotation, his roster spot appears to be in serious jeopardy. It’s worth noting that Pittsburgh could save $2.8M in cap space if they moved on. Perhaps he fends off Father Time and looks rejuvenated after a healthy offseason, but even if this is it, he’s had a successful, albeit unusual, professional career.Â
EDGE DeMarvin Leal
Labeled as a tweener during the draft process, Leal spent most of his first two seasons playing along the defensive line before transitioning back to outside linebacker in 2024. That experiment didn’t yield favorable results in the small sample size of playing time before he suffered a significant neck injury that required a lengthy rehab this offseason. Now healthy, he faces an uphill climb to make the 53-man roster considering the strength of the position group overall and the team’s decision to select Jack Sawyer in the fourth round of the 2025 NFL Draft. Leal doesn’t have the springs to consistently win the corner off the edge, but his best path forward is trying to rediscover his path rush plan that made him so intriguing in that regard during his college days. Without any production to speak of up to this point, betting on that to happen seems like a long shot, but he’s got plenty of savvy vets to lean on for advice.
TE Connor Heyward
The Michigan State product saw his playing time essentially cut in half last season, with him becoming largely an afterthought on offense. Heyward is a weird case study because he’s not athletic enough to be a real threat as a receiver, nor is he big enough to function as a reliable blocker. His saving grace has been that he’s actually a very quality special teams contributor, and in 2024, he tied for the team lead in snaps and tackles made in that phase of the game. After the addition of Jonnu Smith, he’s buried on the depth chart, and even though the Steelers will be heavily reliant on multi-tight end sets this upcoming fall, it’s still difficult to see a path towards playing time unless an unfortunate injury occurs. Still, Heyward is capable of carving out a playing career solely off his special teams acumen, but the question then becomes how many roster spots this team can truly afford to dedicate strictly to that phase of the game.
LB Cole Holcomb
The good news is that Holcomb, who missed all of last season recovering from a gruesome knee injury that transpired the year prior, is heading into camp without any sort of restrictions. Still, it’s been over 600 days since we’ve last seen him actually practice in a live setting with contact, which makes it increasingly difficult to project just how much of his athleticism has been retained. The Steelers signed Malik Harrison, presumably to step into the thumper role that was vacated by Elandon Roberts’ departure in free agency, leaving questions about where Holcomb might fit in on defense. Good linebacker depth is tough to find, and one could argue that it’s worth keeping him around at his reduced $3.6M cap hit for next season, but he’ll need a strong preseason to confirm that belief. Knowing how many injury-related obstacles he’s had to overcome during his career, it would certainly qualify as a cool, feel-good story if things pan out.
Mentioned In This Article: Cole Holcomb Connor Heyward Cordarrelle Patterson DeMarvin Leal Steelers top