3 Steelers cut candidates entering 2026 offseason

The 2025 season marked the end of an era for the Steelers. Head coach Mike Tomlin stepped down after the Steelers were beaten convincingly by the Houston Texans in the Wild Card round of the AFC playoffs.

The Steelers had somehow managed to win the AFC North with a 10-7 record, but there was no area where the Steelers had dominated or even demonstrated consistent strength at any point in the year. Tomlin and the Steelers were simply the best team in a very mediocre lot and that’s why they made the playoffs as the division winner.

This is not any kind of put down or insult to Tomlin. He managed to knit together a fairly cohesive team that lacked big-time talent. There were stars on both sides of the ball in aging QB Aaron Rodgers and outside linebacker T.J. Watt, but the team lacked the ability to sustain their success.

One of the factors was an overall lack of talent, but there was more to it, and that was almost certainly the reason that Tomlin decided to step down after 19 non-losing seasons as the Steelers head coach. He compiled a 193-114-2 regular-season record along with an 8-12 postseason record. However the Steelers had not won a playoff game since the 2016 season, losing six straight games after reaching the AFC title game in 2016.

The Steelers would miss out on going to the Super Bowl that year after absorbing a 36-17 beating by Tom Brady and the New England Patriots.

Tomlin and the Steelers had won a Super Bowl following the 2008 season in his second year, but they would never repeat that success. The head coach did not look at his team and see another Super Bowl performance, and he stepped down. Now it is up to Mike McCarthy to turn things around.

McCarthy has to reshape the Steelers, but a familiar face should be back

The Steelers will almost certainly have a new look and a new energy under McCarthy. Tomlin had seen and done it all with the Steelers, and like any coach who has been at the same location a decade. The fact that Tomlin stayed another 9 years is fairly miraculous, but his message had grown somewhat tired.

McCarthy comes to the team he grew up idolizing, and that sense of enthusiasm should get him through the offseason, training camp and perhaps as long as the first half of the season. After that, it’s about well his system is working and if the Steelers are playing winning football and showing a a level of dominance that was not seen in Tomlin’s final seasons.

The Steelers have said they want the 42-year-old Rodgers to return, and McCarthy has reiterated that claim. Rodgers will still have to decide and determine if he can play one more season at a highly effective level. Part of his decision may be based on the personnel decisions the team makes in the offseason.

Several players almost certainly have to be cut, and we look at 3 players who are unlikely to be back in black and gold.

TE Jonnu Smith

Smith is a 9-year NFL veteran who has played with the Titans, Patriots, Falcons, Dolphins and Steelers. His performance throughout his career has been uneven. After catching 88 passes for 884 yards with 8 touchdowns in 2024 for the Dolphins, the Steelers signed him to a one-year deal as a free agent. The Steelers gave him a $12 million deal and he struggled to make a contribution.

Smith caught 38 passes for 222 yards and 2 TDs, and that was a major failure for the Steelers. It is certainly not worthy bringing him back. It’s possible that Smith could have a bounce-back season — he has done that in the past — but it would be a mistake to give him another opportunity with the Steelers.

He failed once for the Steelers and bringing back the same player to fail again would not be the way to welcome McCarthy to the Steelers.

LB Patrick Queen

Queen finished his second season with the Steelers and he did not play like the Pro Bowl player he was in 2023 or ’24. He made his first Pro Bowl in his fourth and final season with the Baltimore Ravens, and then he signed his two-year, $41 million contract with the Steelers and made his second Pro Bowl.

Queen has been a solid tackler throughout his 6 years in the NFL. He had 120 tackles last year for the Steelers and 8 tackles for loss. He also had 2 passes defensed and 1 forced fumble.

However, he was not as effective as he was the year before. He had 129 tackles, 6 tackles for loss, 7 passes defensed, 2 forced fumbles and 1 fumble recovery.

The downturn in 2025 means that the Steelers would almost certainly be better off in moving in another direction and not bringing Queen back for a third season in Pittsburgh.

LB Malik Harrison

Harrison signed a 2-year, $10 million contract with the Steelers prior to the 2024 season. Much like Queen, he spent 4 years playing linebacker for the Ravens before coming to the Steelers.

He played in 11 games for the Steelers last season and started 9 of them. He he had 41 tackles and 2 tackles for loss, and that came a year after he registered 54 tackles and 3 tackles for loss. Harrison did not have an interception, pass defensed, forced fumble or a fumble recovery in either of this 2 seasons with the Steelers.

He has not been an impact player and there is no reason to bring him back for a third season. The Steelers need players who can make a difference for their new head coach, and that is not Harrison.

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