The Steelers got down to the 53-man max by releasing wide receiver Eli Rogers and a host of other players. Among other notables released 2019 draft picks Sutton Smith (linebacker, sixth round) and Derwin Grey (offensive lineman, seventh round), as well as Marcus Allen, a fifth-round defensive back from the 2018 class.
Rogers came out of nowhere and had a breakout season in 2016, catching 48 passes for 594 yards and three touchdowns in just 13 games. It was a promising debut, but he took a pretty big step backwards the next season when he had just 149 yards and 18 catches. Then in the playoffs, he suffered a torn ACL. The ACL took a long time to recover from, and Rogers didn’t end up making it back until Week 15 of last year.
The rest of the rundown is below.
Offensive players released:
- QB Devlin Hodges
- RB Trey Edmunds
- RB Travon McMillian
- RB Malik Williams
- WR Trey Griffey
- WR Johnny Holton
- WR Tevin Jones
- WR Brandon Reilly
- WR Diontae Spencer
- TE Micky Crum
- TE Kevin Rader
- TE Christian Scotland-Williamson
- TE Trevor Wood
- OL Garrett Brumfield
- OL J.C. Hassanauer
- OL Patrick Morris
- OL Damian Prince
Defensive players released:
- DB Dravon Askew-Henry
- DB Marcelis Branch
- DB Jhvonte Dean
- DB P.J. Locke
- DB Trevon Mathis
- LB Jayrone Elliott
- LB Christian Kuntz
- LB Tegray Scales
- LB Robert Spillane
- DL Winston Craig
- DL Greg Gilmore
- DL Henry Mondeaux
- DL Casey Sayles
- DL Conor Sheehy
Special teams cuts:
Sad to see Sutton Smith go figured he’d be a good OLB to develop, hope he gets a spot somewhere
He’ll probably be on the practice squad
Kuntz got cut? Ouch…