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The NFL has specific rules which need to be followed throughout the league year. One of those rules is the overall number of players on your roster at a given time. During the offseason that number is 90 total players.
For the Pittsburgh Steelers, after their 2020 NFL Draft class of 6 new prospects, and signing 10 undrafted rookie free agents (UDFA), they had to release some players to get their roster to the aforementioned number.
On Sunday, the team did just that by releasing a trio of players. This per Missi Matthews of Steelers.com:
After drafting six players and signing 10 undrafted rookies, the #Steelers had to release three players (RB Darrin Hall, WR Jamal Custis and S Tray Matthews) to get their roster to 90.
— Missi Matthews (@missi_matthews) April 26, 2020
The three players released were former University of Pittsburgh running back Darrin Hall, wide receiver Jamal Custis and safety Tray Matthews.
Hall was added to the Steelers practice squad in October of 2019 as he bounced on and off the squad, sometimes in a matter of days. Matthews was another player from the Steelers 2019 practice squad, but he was only added for Week 17 before being signed to a futures contract. As for Custis, he was signed to a futures contract following the 2019 season.
It is important to note how fluid the 90 man roster is during an NFL offseason. If/when the teams report to their respective headquarters, players who have nagging injuries or are not deemed worthy of a roster spot, will be released. The pandemic sweeping the globe has made it difficult for NFL teams to evaluate prospects they way they are used to doing business.
In the meantime, the Steelers roster is now at 90, and attention now turns from the NFL Draf to the NFL schedule being released in just a few short weeks. Stay tuned to BTSC for the latest new and notes surrounding the black-and-gold.