Steelers Cut Former First-Round Pick Ahead Of Sunday's 53-Man Roster Deadline

The Pittsburgh Steelers have a lot of tough decisions to make as they slowly cut the roster down to just 53 men. Recently, they released the camp bodies that failed to make an impact in preseason to get the unsurprising moves out of the way early. The problem now is that there is a ton of depth at nearly every single position. A lot of these players that Pittsburgh may want to put on the practice squad may not make it to waivers as other teams will be looking to fill some of their holes soon too. So, General Manager Omar Khan has some decisions to make.

Luckily, the Steelers should get an extra roster spot now that they most likely will end up putting a quarterback on Injured Reserve (IR). It's unclear whether quarterback Will Howard really needs to go there, but reports make it seem like he will take up one of the two pre-53-man-roster IR spots. That could open up a slot somewhere else like linebacker or safety.

One of those potential last-man cut candidates ended up getting released earlier than expected though, as NFL insider Adam Schefter announced the latest releases from around the NFL. 

Linebacker Jamin Davis seemed like a long-shot to make the roster when the Steelers first signed him, but that slowly started to change. He did have first-round pedigree, which made Pittsburgh take a flyer on him after his latest release. Even though the timing of the cut was strange, he could still end up on the practice squad once the team gets the roster trimmed down.

Davis showed versatility in his limited time in Pittsburgh, as he was able to make plays happen at both inside and outside linebacker. The Steelers are completely loaded at edge rusher, so it would have been very tough for him to make the roster in that role, anyway. He still has value to the team and could be the first man called up if injury starts taking out players at either linebacker position. For the team to have that luxury, however, he would need to slip through the cracks.

Davis had a great preseason opener, as he led the team in tackles while also racking up two sacks. That helped his stock rise, but he was practically invisible on the field for the final two preseason games. Even with how great he looked in that first game, the signing of Elandon Roberts practically sealed his fate, as the veteran got a lot of snaps to get back up to speed. 

Steelers May Want To Move Davis If He Is Signed To The Practice Squad

As mentioned before, the Steelers' edge rusher group was set in stone the moment that it was announced that the team had no plans to trade any of their key guys. To go along with that, Pittsburgh seems to be more intrigued by the German-born Julius Welschof, who has been a key player off the edge throughout the preseason. 

While the Steelers do have depth at inside linebacker, there is not one player in particular that stands out as the next man up from the practice squad if an injury were to occur there. Davis could end up seeing plenty of time in the middle as a regular season call-up to provide stability at that position as Pittsburgh gets into November and December and the injury list gets longer.

If that doesn't happen, then it wouldn't be shocking to see Davis' time in Pittsburgh come to a close. There are likely a bunch of NFL teams that could use the services of an experienced player with newfound abilities off the edge. If worse ends up coming to worst, the Steelers likely have him on speed dial to bring that stability to inside or outside linebacker.

What do you think about the Steelers cutting Davis? Let us know on X at @Steelers_ChrisB.

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