Predicting the 5 players the Steelers will release with roster cuts looming

One of the next items on the horizon for all 32 National Football League organizations in 2022 is the first trimming of their offseason roster. The roster starts with 90 players, and it used to be trimmed from 90 to 75, and then 75 to 53 not so long ago. But following the pattern established last season, the cuts are now a little different.

After Week 1 of the preseason teams have to cut their rosters from 90 to 85. After Week 2 of the preseason it goes from 85 to 80, and after the preseason on Tuesday, August 30, is when the roster needs to be set at 53 players.

That’s right, the Steelers need to trim their roster from 90 to 85 today, Tuesday August 16th. With that said, Dave Schofield and Jeff Hartman decided to predict the five players who will be let go. We have vastly different lists, and different reasons for those lists.

Take a look at the lists below, and our analysis for why we made those predictions:

Jeff Hartman

G Nate Gilliam
LB Ron’Dell Carter
NT Donovan Jeter
P Cameron Nizialek
S Donovan Stiner

Analysis: When I sat down to pick these five players, I thought it would be easy. I was wrong. Sure, we can all look at the roster and predict the players who won’t be making the team, but when you are looking at who won’t be on the team for the Steelers’ second, and final, preseason games are tough. You have to look at veterans who won’t play much, and positions which need that depth to finish the preseason. I decided to go with some players I thought would be slam dunks. Mike Tomlin has been hounding Gilliam about snaps, so I felt it was safe to move him off the roster. There really is no need for a second punter at this juncture of camp, so I let Nizialek go. Other than those, I went with players who are at the bottom of the depth chart at an already deep position.Either way, I’m prepared to be extremely wrong with my picks...

Dave Schofield

S Donovan Steiner
CB Carlins Platel
WR Christian Blake
G Nate Gilliam
T Jake Dixon

Analysis: I felt this one was tough because there are a number of positions where it’s not obvious who the lowest man on the depth chart— the actual depth chart, not the one Coach Tomlin gave last week— would be. There were actually four offensive linemen as part of the third group who did not see a snap Saturday night, so I just picked two of them to throw on the list and had Chris Owens and Jordan Tucker making it through. I almost went with Tyler Sneed as the wide receiver, but with the injury to Calvin Austin as an unknown he may squeak through for now. And on defense, I didn’t know where to go on the defensive line so I kept them all and tried to find a couple players in the secondary who could be on the chopping block.

Honestly, it could be where some players are waived/injured when the Steelers make their cuts, or even a veteran put on injured reserve for the season which could come into play. I guess we’ll see later today.

What do you think of these predictions? Let us know your predictions in the comment section below, and be sure to stay tuned to BTSC for the latest news and notes on the Steelers as they prepare for the 2022 regular season.