The Steelers officially broke training camp Friday at Heinz Field. When they return for practice on Monday, the roster will be smaller -- if only by 11 players.
But before the Steelers can get to that point, more cuts have to be made. Teams have until 4 p.m. Saturday to trim their rosters from 80 to 53 players. Then, they'll be permitted to add 16 players to their practice squad and move forward with those 69 players.
"I feel like I have enough information to make decisions, and that’s a good thing because it’s time to make decisions," head coach Mike Tomlin said Friday. "We will push forward."
Yes they will.
For better or worse, the Steelers will make some tough decisions in the next 24 hours. Understandably, some of them won't be nearly as difficult as others, but they have to be made nonetheless.
Here's a look at how things could break now that we've seen another week of practice.
Quarterbacks (3): Ben Roethlisberger, Mason Rudolph, Devlin Hodges
No changes here from my look at the potential 53-man roster last weekend. Paxton Lynch doesn't make the cut.
Running backs (5): James Conner, Benny Snell, Anthony McFarland, Jaylen Samuels, Derek Watt
No changes here, either. Conner is the starter with Snell as the primary backup. Samuels will still be in the mix on passing downs and makes it as a special teams player. Watt will have a bigger role than previous fullbacks in recent years.
Wide receivers (6): Diontae Johnson, JuJu Smith-Schuster, James Washington, Chase Claypool, Ryan Switzer, Deon Cain
A slight change here. I had Ray-Ray McCloud on here last week, but Cain had a strong week of practice, not that he might even be active on game days. The first four guys on this list will handle most of the receiving duties.
Tight ends (3): Vance McDonald, Eric Ebron, Zach Gentry
This group remains pretty straight forward. At this point, I just don't see anyone beating out Gentry for that third spot.
Offensive line (8): Alejandro Villanueva, Matt Feiler, Maurkice Pouncey, David DeCastro, Chuks Okorafor, Zach Banner, Stefen Wisniewski, Kevin Dotson
With DeCastro's mysterious injury again keeping him out of practice the last week, the Steelers could keep an extra offensive lineman on the active roster to start the season to protect themselves. And Derwin Gray can play tackle or guard, so he gives them some flexibility. But they can get him onto the practice squad and activate him before playing the Giants if needed.
Defensive line (6): Cam Heyward, Tyson Alualu, Stephon Tuitt, Chris Wormley, Daniel McCullers, Henry Mondeaux
Isaiah Buggs doesn't make it here. Mondeaux does. Why? The team seems to have a plan for the athletic big man on special teams. The Steelers should be able to slide Buggs onto the practice squad.
Outside linebacker (4): T.J. Watt, Bud Dupree, Alex Highsmith, Ola Adeniyi
No changes here. The Steelers will stash a couple of outside linebackers on the practice squad, but Highsmith looks like a keeper and could wind up being the top backup at both spots.
Inside linebacker (5): Devin Bush, Vince Williams, Ulysees Gilbert, Robert Spillane, Marcus Allen
It appears that Allen has made a complete transition to linebacker. It was probably needed. He wasn't going to make this roster as a safety. He will as at this position.
Cornerbacks (5): Joe Haden, Steven Nelson, Mike Hilton, Cam Sutton, Justin Layne
I had rookie James Pierre making it last week. But given the fact no other teams have seen the former Florida Atlantic star on the practice field this summer, the Steelers should be able to stash the intriguing rookie on the practice squad.
Safeties (5): Minkah Fitzpatrick, Terrell Edmunds, Curtis Riley, Jordan Dangerfield, Antoine Brooks
I didn't have Dangerfield making it last weekend, but his special teams play gets him a spot here. And he's only making $825,000 this season, so it doesn't cost that much to keep him around or save that much by releasing him.
Specialists (3): Chris Boswell, Corliss Waitman, Kameron Canaday
Waitman and Jordan Berry have had a competition at punter throughout this camp and both have had their moments. But Waitman was better and more consistent on Friday. Does the final impression make a lasting impression. The Steelers can save $1.8 million in cap space by releasing Berry. Waitman will obviously eat up some of that as a replacement, but the Steelers will net about $1 million in cap space by making this move. And every dollar will count, especially if they can roll some of that cap space into 2021. It was close enough that this move makes sense.