Two Steelers Named Possible Cap Casualties

The Pittsburgh Steelers have moves they must make. As it stands, Steelers Now analysis has the team at $5.4 million over the salary cap at a league figure of $242.5 million. However, it’s possible that an upward move of that number could have the Steelers fully compliant before the start of the new league year in mid-March without having to make any additional moves. But they will have to make some roster cuts to get some flexibility.

On Monday, NFL.com did an exercise to ask who potential cut candidates were throughout the AFC. They named two Pittsburgh players in Allen Robinson II and Patrick Peterson.

“A likely future Hall of Famer, Peterson turns 34 this summer, is by no means the shutdown corner he once was and could be cut by Pittsburgh to create nearly $7 million in cap savings,” they wrote. “Speaking of aging Steelers vets with declining production, Robinson hasn’t been effective since the 2020 season in Chicago and carries an $11.9 million cap hit in 2024, making him a near-guarantee for release this offseason.”

Peterson wants to return. But that’s not fully up to him, and what he wants to do might not align with the Steelers. But Peterson did say that he was willing to do everything except sit on the bench in a glorified coaching role. If the team has a role envisioned for him, he wants it.

“You know I want to (keep playing). The question is if the Steelers want me to finish with them,” Peterson said on the All Things Covered Podcast. “Me and Coach Tomlin had a great conversation after the season. Obviously, I know that you have to go through your evaluations in the draft and free agency and things like that, but for me, what I was able to do in Year 13 playing different positions, coming into a new environment. I felt my season was very successful playing 97 percent of my snaps…As you saw this year, I’m open to playing wherever, whenever. Wherever I can be to help the team, I’m all for it. Except for the bench.”

Meanwhile, Robinson had minimal production but became an integral blocker in their run game as the season went along. He fits the Arthur Smith system well, but his cap hit is too large to justify keeping him at that tag. Maybe they negotiate a new contract to keep him in Pittsburgh, but that seems like one that will happen at some point soon.

These are just two of those moves, and Pittsburgh has many other decisions to make across the roster, like Mason Cole, Larry Ogunjobi, Damontae Kazee, Keanu Neal, and others.