The Steelers trimmed their roster by 27 players on Saturday to get to the 53-man roster limit, with veteran wide receiver Ryan Switzer and defensive lineman Daniel McCullers among the most notable players let go.
Switzer, a favorite of quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, was a surprising cut. The veteran had been with the Steelers since 2018, when the team acquired him in training camp via a trade with the Raiders. He is expected to be added to the team's practice squad along with veteran Deon Cain, who also was released.
Ray-Ray McCloud, signed by the team just a couple of weeks ago, made the final roster over Switzer and Cain.
The release of McCullers also came as a surprise. The sixth-year veteran was a sixth-round draft pick of the team in 2014 and had twice been re-signed in free agency by the team.
Also released were sixth-round draft pick Antoine Brooks, a safety out of Maryland. The team did keep rookie defensive tackle Carlos Davis, a seventh-round draft pick.
In addition, the Steelers released quarterback Paxton Lynch; running backs Kerrith Whyte, Trey Edmunds and Wendell Smallwood; wide receivers Saeed Blacknall, DeAndre Thompkins and Amara Darboh; offensive linemen Christian DiLauro, John Keenoy, Derwin Gray, Anthony Coyle and Jarron Jones; tight ends Kyle Markway and Kevin Rader, defensive linemen Cavon Walker, Henry Mondeaux and Calvin Taylor; linebackers Tuzar Skipper and Jayrone Elliott; defensive backs Trajan Bandy and John Battle; punter Corliss Waitman and long snapper Liam McCullough.
Lynch, Gray, Cain, Whyte, Elliott and Edmunds all were on the team's 53-man roster at some point during the 2019 season. Smallwood had been signed at the start of training camp this year.
Those moves also had salary cap ramifications. McCullers was set to count $1.625 million against the team's salary cap this year, while Switzer ($825,000), Lynch ($825,000), Edmunds ($825,000), Smallwood ($750,000) and Elliott ($750,000) all had salaries above the rookie minimum.
Teams had to be at the 53-man roster limit by 4 p.m. today. After players clear waivers, teams can begin adding players to their 16-man practice squad at 1 p.m. Sunday.
The practice squad can include up to six veterans this year as a nod to potential issues with the coronavirus. And, a team can designate four of the players on its practice squad as protected from signing elsewhere. In previous years, any player could be signed to an active roster off the practice squad of another team. The only way teams could block that move would be to sign them to their own active roster.
Interestingly, the Steelers kept three centers on the roster, starter Maurkice Pouncey and veteran Stefen Wisniewski along with first-year player J.C. Hassenauer. Wisniewski, one of nine offensive linemen on the 53-man roster, also plays guard.
That could mean the team is concerned about the injury to guard David DeCastro, who missed all of practice last week with a lower body injury that has kept him sidelined for two of the past three weeks. If DeCastro were unavailable for the team's regular season opener Sept. 14 against the Giants, Wisniewski would likely get the start at right guard.
That might have forced the team's hand at wide receiver. The Steelers typically keep six on their active roster, but have just five right now -- JuJu Smith-Schuster, Diontae Johnson, James Washington, rookie Chase Claypool and McCloud.
Undrafted rookie cornerback James Pierre also made the roster. Pierre, a Florida Atlantic product, was one of six cornerbacks kept by the team. He was joined by Joe Haden, Steven Nelson, Mike Hilton, Cameron Sutton and Justin Layne.