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Steelers Release 11 Players Before 53-Man Roster Deadline

The deadline is Tuesday at 4 p.m. ET

The Pittsburgh Steelers announced their first batch of preseason roster cuts on Friday.

NFL teams have until Tuesday at 4 p.m. ET to narrow their active roster down to 53 players. Pittsburgh began the process by releasing the following 11 players:

  • QB Logan Woodside
  • RB Evan Hull
  • TE Kevin Foelsch
  • G Doug Nester
  • OT Julian Pearl
  • LB Kenny Willekes
  • CB Kam Alexander
  • CB Kyler McMichael
  • CB Mikey Victor
  • S Quindell Johnson
  • LS Jake McQuaide

Woodside completed four of six passes for 38 yards in Thursday’s 19-10 win over the Carolina Panthers. The 30-year-old had little chance of making the team over Mason Rudolph and Skylar Thompson, who concluded a strong preseason with 152 passing yards and a touchdown.

Hull turned two carries into nine yards on Thursday. The 2023 fifth-round pick played just one snap for the Indianapolis Colts last season.

Foelsch signed with the Steelers late last month after getting released by the Kansas City Chiefs. They waived the 2024 undrafted free agent, who has yet to play in an NFL game, before re-signing him on Aug. 11.

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Nester spent the 2024 season on Pittsburgh’s practice squad out of West Virginia, and Pearl signed with the Steelers on Monday after getting cut by the Cleveland Browns.

The Steelers also added Alexander ahead of their final preseason game after he opened camp with the Seattle Seahawks. McMichael and Victor are both former undrafted rookies yet to play an NFL snap.

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Willekes tallied 2.5 sacks for the Minnesota Vikings in 2021, and Johnson recorded three tackles and an interception through nine games with the Chicago Bears in 2023. Yet McQuaide has by far the most experience of Friday’s cuts, appearing in 197 games across 14 seasons. He spent the last four years with four different teams after a decade with the Los Angeles Rams.

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Featured image via Geoff Burke/Imagn Images