The Pittsburgh Steelers have released veteran tackle Le’Raven Clark, the team announced on Monday.
Clark, 30, is a vested veteran and does not need to clear waivers. He will be eligible to sign with another NFL team whenever he chooses to.
The Steelers signed Clark on March 24 with what appeared to be the intention of him being the team’s swing backup tackle.
That plan started to unravel with the club drafted Broderick Jones in the first round of the 2023 NFL Draft. It continued when Clark failed to impress at training camp. He played in 89 preseason snaps over three weeks and was given a 57.3 grade by Pro Football Focus.
Clark was even passed on the depth chart by first-year former college quarterback Dylan Cook by the end of the preseason. Cook remains on the team’s active roster, one of four tackles.
A 6-foot-5, 315-pound tackle out of Texas Tech, Clark played 13 games and made two starts for the Tennessee Titans in 2022. Before that, he spent one season with the Philadelphia Eagles, playing in four games in 2021.
The Indianapolis Colts drafted Clark as a third-round pick back in 2016 and he spent five seasons in Indy, despite never becoming a regular starter. His single-season career high in snaps was 365 back in 2018.
Clark had a $50,000 signing bonus that will count as a dead cap hit for the Steelers upon his release.
The cut was one of 10 on Monday to bring the Steelers down to 72 players on their active roster. The team has until 4 p.m. on Tuesday to reach the NFL regular season limit of 53 players.