Feb. 22, 2026, 2:19 p.m. ET<\/p>\n
One former Pittsburgh Steelers<\/a> running back could be heading to free agency<\/a>, as Doug Haller of The Athletic recently linked Arizona Cardinals<\/a> running back James Conner as a possible roster cut ahead of the new league year.<\/p>\n According to Haller, Conner’s gruesome leg injury<\/a> he suffered last season is a big reason why he’s the Cardinals’ biggest roster cut candidate, despite his career resurgence in Arizona.<\/p>\n “Every offseason decision for the Cardinals starts with Kyler Murray. Assuming they find a trading partner for the 28-year-old quarterback, they still face difficult decisions. Conner is among the biggest,” Haller wrote.<\/a> “His value during his five years in Arizona is unquestioned. He runs hard. He is among the most respected players in the locker room. But he\u2019s also coming off a severe right foot injury that ended his 2025 season after three games. Conner, who turns 31 in May, is under contract through the 2026 season. Cutting him would save about $8 million, money the Cardinals could use on a younger replacement.”<\/p>\n In his five seasons with the Cardinals, Conner rushed for 3,763 yards and 38 touchdowns while also catching 165 passes for 1,292 yards and eight touchdowns. He was named to his second Pro Bowl in his debut season with Arizona in 2021.<\/p>\n If Conner is released by the Cardinals and the Steelers<\/a> fail to re-sign Kenneth Gainwell, perhaps a reunion in Pittsburgh could be in the cards for 2026.<\/p>\n Expert NFL picks: Exclusive betting insights only at USA TODAY.<\/a><\/p>\n For up-to-date\u00a0Steelers\u00a0coverage, including any offseason moves, follow us on X\u00a0@TheSteelersWire<\/a>\u00a0and give our\u00a0Facebook page<\/a>\u00a0a like.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Feb. 22, 2026, 2:19 p.m. ET One former Pittsburgh Steelers running back could be heading to free agency,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":770772,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2055],"tags":[95878,7,6,520,57,2360,96718,96719,426,95882,95890,101172,95888,95895,95899,96720,96071,95883,95881],"class_list":{"0":"post-770771","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-pittsburgh-steelers","8":"tag-accessfree","9":"tag-football","10":"tag-nfl","11":"tag-pittsburgh","12":"tag-pittsburgh-steelers","13":"tag-pittsburghsteelers","14":"tag-sstssportsnflsteelers","15":"tag-sstsnsteelers","16":"tag-steelers","17":"tag-tagamerican-football","18":"tag-tagarizona-cardinals","19":"tag-tagjames-conner","20":"tag-tagnfl","21":"tag-tagnfl-hub","22":"tag-tagoverall-neutral","23":"tag-tagpittsburgh-steelers","24":"tag-tagsmg-timely","25":"tag-tagsports-news","26":"tag-typestory"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116119193937986586","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/770771","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=770771"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/770771\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/770772"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=770771"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=770771"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=770771"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}