Steelers Release Athletic Cornerback

The Steelers have released athletic cornerback Madre Harper, the team announced on Saturday.

Harper played a number of snaps with the Steelers across their three preseason games but fell out of favor with the team across more games. Players such as Chris Wilcox and Luq Barcoo played more, earning the trust of the coaches over time.

Harper also comes to the Steelers from the Carolina Panthers, where he spent the entire season on the practice squad without playing in a game. The 6-foot-1, 196-pound Oklahoma State and Southern Illinois alum first signed with the Las Vegas Raiders as an undrafted free agent in 2020 and also had a stop with the New York Giants.

Harper played nine games with the Giants in 2020 and three with the Panthers in 2021. He has five career tackles and one fumble recovery. With Carolina, he played exclusively on special teams.

Harper is not the only defensive back on the move, as Nevelle Clarke was cut as part of the moves as well. The team now sits at 82 players. They will need to be down to 53 players by 4:00 p.m. on Tuesday afternoon. It appears they are using the next three days as building blocks while they start cut downs on some obvious players.

The club has practice scheduled for Saturday, Sunday and Monday, so they likely will wait until Tuesday to make the final cuts. 

Players released earlier will include individuals the Steelers likely do not consider to be options for the practice squad, or veterans that they hope to allow to catch on with another team.

So far, the Steelers have executed eight of those cuts following their preseason victory over the Falcons. In the coming days, many more cuts will come as the team rounds out its 53-man roster and fills out the practice squad.