Steelers' Easy Opportunity To Clear Nearly $7 Million In Cap Space Could Happen Soon

General Manager Omar Khan and the Pittsburgh Steelers are headed into free agency with a lot of questions to answer about the state of the franchise. On both sides of the ball, there were players that performed well enough to deserve extensions with the team, while there were others that underperformed massively. Some of these underperforming players will likely become cap casualties for the Steelers, as the team will release them to recoup some of the cost of signing them to potentially put toward signing a huge addition. While there are plenty of players that have been discussed as cap casualties for the Steelers, one particular player has flown under the radar in regards to these talks.

The player referred to in this instance is Steelers linebacker Malik Harrison. He carries a $6.79 million cap hit for the 2026 season. Unless the Steelers end up changing their mind and give Harrison an extension to serve a bigger role on defense, it seems likely that Harrison will be a cap casualty and be let go by the Steelers.

Earlier on Tuesday, Mark Kaboly and Chris Mack went live on their podcast, the Kaboly + Mack show to discuss how the Steelers could approach free agency under the new leadership. While they discussed who the Steelers could end up signing and releasing, Kaboly went on to bring up the idea of cutting Harrison to save cap space.

"I think the guy you look at, is probably getting paid too much for what he did last year is Malik Harrison," Kaboly said. "He's making some cash. $6.7 [million] for Harrison."

Kaboly's comment regarding what Harrison did last year is the primary reason the Steelers have for cutting him. Harrison was only on the field for 11 games out of 18, and made a very minimal impact in the games that he did participate in. This, on top of the fact that the Steelers are going into next season with a $7 million cap hit on a player that hardly sees the field, is why it makes a lot of sense for the Steelers to move on. 

Releasing Harrison would end up freeing around $4.75 million in cap space, which could go a long way to the Steelers to afford to make a splash move in free agency. Pittsburgh originally felt he could help with the run defense over a guy like Payton Wilson, but that just didn't really pan out.

The Steelers are also loaded at the linebacker position, making there even less of a reason for the team to keep him. Kaboly's comments talking about Harrison's release seem like an inevitability, unless the new leadership decides that Harrison would be a valuable contributor in a revamped defense. Even with how unlikely this scenario is, the Steelers could be open to exploring all options with Harrison and his status with the team. However, what makes his release a great possibility aside from his cap hit, is due to how the defense is already set up. There are already a good amount of key contributors on the Steelers' defense, especially at linebacker, that essentially push Harrison out due to limited room.

Steelers Linebacker Room Is Set Up For Success

With how the Steelers would undoubtedly not be moving on from any of their key contributors in the linebacker room on the outside, the middle linebackers have left much to be desired. Wilson is hopeful as a staple moving forward, along with Patrick Queen who holds the green dot. While the team could end up finding a use for Harrison, it would be far more likely that another team would end up benefiting from his play much more than the Steelers ever could.

What did you think about Kaboly's comments and prediction that Harrison will end up getting released?

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