The Pittsburgh Steelers announced another wave of roster cuts Monday. The Steelers parted ways with 13 players overall, including inside linebacker Mark Robinson, who appeared in 34 regular season games over the past two years for the team.
Robinson also made four starts in three seasons for Pittsburgh.
With that move, the Steelers could be signaling that seventh-round rookie inside linebacker Carson Bruener will make the 53-man roster. Bruener’s father, Mark Bruener, played tight end for the Steelers from 1995-2003.
In addition to Robinson, the Steelers waived linebacker Julius Welschof, defensive backs D’Shawn Jamison and Daryl Porter and defensive lineman Kyler Baugh.
On offense, the Steelers parted ways with running back Lew Nichols, wide receivers Max Hurleman and Lance McCutcheon, offensive linemen Steven Jones and Aiden Williams and tight end J.J. Galbreath.
The team also made two cuts on special teams. The Steelers waived kicker Ben Sauls and terminated their contract with punter Cameron Johnston.
Moving on from Sauls was expected since Chris Boswell is one of the best kickers in the league. Johnston was much more surprising. Johnston was the Steelers’ punter going into the 2024 season, but he landed on injured reserve following Week 1.
Corliss Waitman replaced Johnston after the injury. Waitman is now the only punter remaining on the Steelers roster.
The roster cuts Monday bring the Steelers down to 67 players. Every NFL team must reduce their rosters to 53 players by 4 pm ET Tuesday.
Steelers Part Ways With LB Mark Robinson
Excluding the punter situation, the Steelers moving on from Robinson was the next most unexpected move the team made Monday.
While Robinson was a seventh-round pick in the 2022 NFL Draft, the team started Robinson at inside linebacker in the final two regular season games of his rookie campaign. Then entering that offseason, he received considerable hype in the media as a potential piece for the team’s future.
But Robinson was not a starter when the 2023 season opened. In fact, he played just four snaps at inside linebacker until Week 10.
Robinson made two starts in December 2023 when the team was dealing with multiple injuries at the position.
Last season, Robinson played only eight defensive snaps.
Still, he was an unexpected cut because Robinson became a special teams stalwart for the Steelers last season. He averaged 17.7 defensive snaps during 2024.
Without Robinson, the Steelers will have to turn to other inside linebackers for special teams contributions.
Steelers Keeping Rookie LB Carson Bruener?
After the team waived Robinson, Steelers Depot’s official X account posted that Bruener has “a great shot” to make the final 53-man roster.
The Steelers have four other inside linebackers remaining on their roster. But there’s a strong chance the team will want to keep five at the position, which would include Bruener.
Pundits expect Patrick Queen and Payton Wilson to start at inside linebacker for Pittsburgh this season. Free agent signee Malik Harrison and Cole Holcomb are listed as the team’s second-team inside linebackers.
Holcomb will be returning from a serious knee injury that ruled him out for the second half of 2023 and the entire 2024 season.
Bruener played four college seasons at Washington. Last year, he posted 105 combined tackles, including two tackles for loss. Bruener also had five pass defenses and three interceptions.
His father was mostly a blocking tight end for the Steelers. In nine seasons, Mark Bruener posted 137 catches, 1,197 receiving yards and 16 touchdowns for Pittsburgh in 125 games. He also played five seasons for the Houston Texans.
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