With rookie minicamp set to begin Friday morning, the Steelers took care of some housekeeping Thursday afternoon, releasing placekicker Matt McCrane and defensive back Jack Tocho.
The move to release McCrane was not surprising. The Steelers signed McCrane prior to a Week 17 game last season against the Bengals after Chris Boswell was placed on injured reserve.
And Kevin Colbert had mentioned McCrane possibly being used as competition for Boswell in training camp this year. But the team signed rookie Matthew Wright after the draft, giving the Steelers three placekickers.
Wright is the all-time leading scorer in Central Florida history.
Tocho's release, however, is somewhat surprising. A seventh-round pick of the Vikings in 2017, Tocho could have played corner or safety.
In addition to spending time with the Vikings, he also was with the Redskins in 2018 and spent time with the Birmingham Iron in the now-defunct AAF.
LOLLEY'S VIEW
McCrane, despite being a decent placekicking prospect, is going to have a tough time sticking in the league at 168 pounds. For better or worse, teams just aren't comfortable with kickers that small.
And even McCrane admitted at the end of last season he needs to get stronger.
Tocho's release is interesting. It's hard to believe they wouldn't at least give him a shot unless something off the field happened. And no, that doesn't necessarily mean with the law. It could be an injury suffered during a workout.