As the Steelers look to make the leap in the 2023 season, these three players might not make it through the end of training camp with Pittsburgh.
There are never not high hopes for the Pittsburgh Steelers based on the track record of head coach Mike Tomlin since he took over patrolling the sidelines in the Steel City, but they are a bit higher than in the past few years coming into the 2023 season.
With the hopeful ascension of Kenny Pickett behind an improved offensive line and with a deepened group of weapons around him to go with one of the league's best defenses that also made substantial upgrades in terms of depth and quality, particularly in the secondary, the Steelers should have a chance to massively improve on their 9-8 finish that saw them miss out on the playoffs a year ago.
However, as these additions and improvements have been made, it's likely pushed a few players onto the wrong side of the chopping block. Taking that in mind, these three Steelers won't have a place on the roster by the time training camp wraps up.
Note: All cap figures are courtesy of Over the Cap.
Steelers: 3 players who won't be on the roster after training camp
3. Montravius Adams, IDL
To say that Montravius Adams was far from an asset on the interior of the Steelers defensive line last season would be a bit of an understatement, all told.
The former Packers draft pick graded out as the 105th-best player at the position in the NFL out of the 127 qualifying defensive lineman according to PFF (subscription required). Even with a number of underperformers on the roster in Pittsburgh, he stood out as being an extreme non-factor for that group.
For a Steelers defensive front that has a ton of juice, weak spots like what Adams was a year ago really stand out in a major way. But the situation has changed now with Larry Ogunjobi back in the fold, the possibility with newcomer Breiden Fehoko, and the arrival of second-round pick and potential game-wrecker Keeanu Benton.
Unless things go extremely poorly, it should be Cameron Heyward, Ogunjobi and Benton as the starters with DeMarvin Leal, Fehoko and Isaiahh Loudermilk in some combination serving as the primary backups. Additionally, Pittsburgh can recoup just under $1 million cap space by moving on from Adams.
With better options now on the roster combined with his lack of performance last season when given the opportunity, it would be shocking if Adams was on the roster in Week 1 than if he were cut before the end of the training camp.
2. Quincy Roche, EDGE
Back in the 2021 draft, the Steelers used a sixth-round pick on Quincy Roche out of Miami but was waived at the end of that training camp. The New York Giants then picked up the pass-rusher and have used him as a role player for the defense over the past two seasons with some real flashes from the youngster.
This offseason, though, Roche was brought back to Pittsburgh in an effort to help deepen the pass rush behind the team's two stars, T.J. Watt and newly extended Alex Highsmith. Since the reunion with the team that drafted him, though, things have changed for the defensive front in terms of the personnel on the edge.
Not only did the Steelers get a steal on Nick Herbig in the fourth-round of the draft, a situational pass-rusher who graded out as an absolute force in the 2022 college season, but they also inked veteran Markus Golden to join the team as well in the late, late stages of free agency.
The result of that might simply be Roche being left out in the cold.
While Roche has flashed with the Giants when given the chance to get on the field in recent years, his production has still been just average and there's obviously a reason that the New York coaching staff wasn't necessarily inclined to give him more snaps in the defense. When you take that into account with the experience of Golden as a high-end backup and then the upside of Herbig, keeping Roche or saving $940K seems like an easy choice for Pittsburgh to make.
1. Zach Gentry, TE
Zach Gentry has been with the Steelers for the past four seasons after the organization selected him in the fifth round of the 2019 NFL Draft. The former Michigan tight end was used sparingly in his first two seasons but has played in all 17 games for the Black and Gold over the past two years, which is probably why Pittsburgh elected to re-sign him in early April.
After making that decision in late free agency, though, the Steelers seemingly put a ticking clock on Gentry's time in the organization, specifically when the draft rolled along. Though no one expected Georgia's behemoth tight end Darnell Washington to fall to the middle of the third round, he did — and Pittsburgh jumped at the opportunity to add him to the roster.
With Washington and Gentry, the first factor working against the latter is the limitless potential of the former. The Georgia product is a physical freak with his 6-foot-6, 264-pound frame that is paired with plus athleticism. Though still a bit raw as a pass-catcher, his blocking should be elite for the position right away with the possibility to grow into a near-uncoverable threat in the passing attack.
The bigger factor, though, is that Gentry has not been good in Pittsburgh of late. Last year, he graded out as only the 71st-best tight end in the NFL according to PFF (subscription required). There were only 73 players at the position who qualified.
Given the recent struggles of Gentry and the fact that the Steelers could save roughly $1 million by releasing him before final roster cuts, the arrival of Washington and intriguing other depth like Connor Heyward makes the Michigan product expendable as the roster gets trimmed down.
