{"id":856877,"date":"2026-04-06T13:09:28","date_gmt":"2026-04-06T13:09:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/856877\/"},"modified":"2026-04-06T13:09:28","modified_gmt":"2026-04-06T13:09:28","slug":"steelers-2026-pre-draft-moves-defensive-end","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/856877\/","title":{"rendered":"Steelers 2026 Pre-Draft Moves \u2013 Defensive End"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Pittsburgh Steelers are most of the way through the first part of the offseason\u00a0leading up to the draft<\/a>. Before we get there, we\u2019re going to\u00a0take stock of how the roster has evolved<\/a>\u00a0over the past several weeks. Position by position, we\u2019ll break down who\u2019s coming and going and what\u2019s next for those rookies and\u00a0those already here.<\/p>\n

Position: Defensive End<\/p>\n

Total Positional Figure: 6<\/p>\n

Offseason Additions: 1<\/p>\n

Offseason Deletions: 2<\/p>\n

Players Retained: <\/p>\n

Cameron Heyward: Heyward is the embodiment of a Steelers 3-4 defensive end, and he will remain so a while longer. He signed a contract extension this offseason, which includes a slight pay boost. While he didn\u2019t put up big sack numbers in 2025, he once again played as an All-Pro level.<\/p>\n

Derrick Harmon: Missing the Steelers\u2019 first two games, Derrick Harmon started at defensive end as soon as he was healthy. And he made a difference, with the upside to do so even more in Year 2. Able to play the run as well as rush the passer, he is earmarked as the future. That\u2019s why they used a first-round pick on him, after all.<\/p>\n

Esezi Otomewo: Largely an afterthought in free agency last year, Otomewo is a nice little developing defensive end for the Steelers. Though he isn\u2019t guaranteed to make the roster, he should be in the mix. Especially if they don\u2019t draft a defensive lineman high this year.<\/p>\n

Logan Lee: A 2024 late-round pick, Logan Lee continues to hang on. Injured his entire rookie season, Lee played defensive end and defensive tackle for the Steelers last season. In terms of body composition, he is better suited for the former, however. Right now, he is Otomewo\u2019s primary competition for a sixth and possibly final defensive line spot on the roster.<\/p>\n

Anthony Goodlow: Goodlow spent time on the Steelers\u2019 practice squad last season after the defensive end\u2019s second in-season workout for the team. A former college free agent, he has three career tackles in three games across 36 snaps.<\/p>\n

Players Added:<\/p>\n

Jahvaree Ritzie: A 2025 college free agent, Ritzie signed a Reserve\/Future contract this offseason. The young defensive end spent time on the Patriots\u2019 practice squad as a rookie before signing with the Steelers in January. The North Carolina product has close to prototypical defensive end size.<\/p>\n

Players Deleted:<\/p>\n

Isaiahh Loudermilk: After five seasons with the Steelers, Loudermilk is finally gone. The veteran defensive end remains unsigned after spending the 2025 season on the Reserve\/Injured list. With a new coaching staff, there is not likely to be much interest in a reunion.<\/p>\n

Dean Lowry: Like Loudermilk, the veteran defensive end spent all of the 2025 season on the Steelers\u2019 IR. Now 32 years old, it\u2019s quite possible that his career is over, Lowry remaining unsigned. The Steelers have already moved on, signing Sebastian Joseph-Day in free agency.<\/p>\n

Notes And Draft Outlook:<\/p>\n

For the purposes of this series, I\u2019m classifying Steelers players like Yahya Black and Sebastian Joseph-Day as defensive tackles instead of defensive ends. If the depth looks a little thin here, then, that\u2019s probably why. Instead of talking about them twice in both categories, we\u2019ll do them once, understanding position flexibility is part of their appeal.<\/p>\n

Despite the addition of Joseph-Day and retaining Otomewo, the Steelers could remain busy along the defensive line in the draft, particularly at defensive end. Even after extending Heyward for another year, they have to plan for the future. Right now, they don\u2019t have a long-term reserve locked in, either. Even if Joseph-Day does that for a year or two, who is in the pipeline\u2014Logan Lee? Unless Yahya Black plays end on a more full-time basis, but I think he\u2019s ticketed inside sooner than later.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Pittsburgh Steelers are most of the way through the first part of the offseason\u00a0leading up to the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":818489,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2055],"tags":[67160,4034,11810,340,12073,7,4109,116953,10038,6,520,57,2360,426],"class_list":{"0":"post-856877","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-pittsburgh-steelers","8":"tag-anthony-goodlow","9":"tag-cameron-heyward","10":"tag-dean-lowry","11":"tag-derrick-harmon","12":"tag-esezi-otomewo","13":"tag-football","14":"tag-isaiahh-loudermilk","15":"tag-jahvaree-ritzee","16":"tag-logan-lee","17":"tag-nfl","18":"tag-pittsburgh","19":"tag-pittsburgh-steelers","20":"tag-pittsburghsteelers","21":"tag-steelers"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116357928003406231","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/856877","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=856877"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/856877\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/818489"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=856877"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=856877"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=856877"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}