Steelers Veteran LB Named Cut Candidate

It's that time of year where the Pittsburgh Steelers and other teams around the NFL begin setting the blueprint for how they plan on attacking the offseason, with both free agency and the draft looming large within that discussion.

With cap space always at a premium, there's a number of players on every roster who are in danger of being released as organizations look to free up money and resources.

Pro Football Network ran through the top cut candidates for each team, with outside linebacker Preston Smith topping that list for the Steelers.

"Preston Smith being cut by the Pittsburgh Steelers may end up being one of the easier moves of the offseason," they wrote. "The pass rusher was a midseason acquisition by the Steelers, but the numbers were mediocre, to say the least. Smith had just two pressures and two sacks in eight games with the Steelers while racking up 13 tackles.

"Being traded in the middle of the season is tough, and Smith will almost certainly get a deal somewhere in 2025 but probably at a price far below his $13.4 million hit. With all of that money being owed as salary, the Steelers do have some options if they want to reduce his cap number in 2025 and keep him on the roster for another season."

Pittsburgh acquired Smith from the Green Bay Packers for a 2025 seventh-round pick at the trade deadline with an eye towards fortifying the depth behind T.J. Watt, Alex Highsmith and Nick Herbig.

Smith logged 11 tackles, a sack and a fumble recovery over 142 defensive snaps in his first seven games with the Steelers. He was then listed as a healthy inactive for the team's Week 17 matchup against the Kansas City Chiefs before receiving 19 reps versus the Cincinnati Bengals in the Week 18 regular season finale.

The 32-year-old was also inactive for Pittsburgh's Wild Card round game against the Baltimore Ravens, however, which was rather telling in terms of how the team valued him.

While Pro Football Network also listed the likes of Larry Ogunjobi, Cole Holcomb and Miles Killebrew as potential cap casualties, Smith is the most obvious option among that group given his lack of a role and the fact that his $13.4 million salary next year is non-guaranteed, allowing the Steelers to recoup that entire amount if they were to release him.

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