2024 Steelers Exit Interviews: Larry Ogunjobi and Preston Smith

The Pittsburgh Steelers 2024 NFL season has come to a close. Because the Steelers are among the 31 teams who did not finish fulfilling their ultimate goal, they are in the process of wrapping up their season and moving forward into 2025.

Since the Steelers conduct exit interviews with all their players, and the fact I have done these articles in the past, we thought we would do them yet again here at Steel Curtain Network. By outlining two players each day, we will be able to look at their season in retrospect as well as looking toward the future. Since Coach Tomlin has previously stated he starts his interviews with rookies and those heading into free agency, we will attempt to do the same to some degree. To start, we will pair the most recent draftees with another player at the same position (if possible) as we work through this process to eventually cover the entire Steelers roster.

Next up are potential (and actual) Cap casualties defensive tackle Larry Ogunjobi and outside linebacker Preston Smith.

Larry Ogunjobi

Position: Defensive Lineman
Years with the Steelers: 3
Years in the NFL: 8
Contract Status: Signed through 2025
Contract Details: $10,533,334 salary cap hit for 2025. Would cost the Steelers $3,533,334 in dead money if released and save $7 million.
Games played in 2024: 15 regular season
Games started in 2024: 12 regular season
Snaps (regular season): 494 (defense), 41 (special teams)
PFF score: 48.3 (94th of 118)
Notable stats: Ogunjobi had 41 tackles, 5 of which were for loss, and 1.5 sacks.

Notes: Even though his salary cap hit for 2025 is almost $3 million less than what it was last season, the bigger reason Ogunjobi is a prime candidate to be a cap casualty is simply because his production is not matching his contract. The Steelers Walter Payton Man of the Year nominee for 2024, Ogunjobi seems to be a good guy in the locker room, but the only way he should be sticking around with the Steelers is on a severely reduced contract. Although the Steelers don’t have the need for the cap space at this time, paying $7 million for minimal productivity simply isn’t a good business model.

Preston Smith

Position: Outside Linebacker
Years with the Steelers: 1
Years in the NFL: 10
Contract Status: Signed through 2026, but was released
Contract Details: Was a $13,400,000 salary cap hit for 2025. Cost the Steelers no dead money when released and saved all $13.4 million.
Games played in 2024: 8 regular season (9 with Green Bay)
Games started in 2024: 0 regular season (9 with Green Bay)
Snaps (regular season): 161 (defense; 308 with GB), 3 (special teams; 1 with GB)
PFF score: 64.2 (62nd of 119)
Notable stats: Smith had 13 tackles, 3 of which were for loss, 2.0 sacks, and one fumble recovery with the Steelers.

Notes: It was obvious the Steelers were not going to pay Preston Smith $13.4 million this season, especially with no dead money on the contract. It was a nice boost for the depth for the second half of the season at a pretty inexpensive price of a 2025 seventh round draft pick, but Smith was not worth what it would cost going forward. If Smith liked Pittsburgh that much and wanted to re-sign at a much lower rate, I don’t think Steelers fans would have a problem. But after being inactive two of the last three games, including the Steelers Wild Card Game, I don’t see why Smith would want to come back to Pittsburgh after being released last Friday.

Make sure you check back each day for another set of exit interviews. If you have missed any of the previous articles, they are listed here:

Troy Fautanu & Broderick Jones
Zach Frazier & Ryan McCollum
Roman Wilson & Van Jefferson
Payton Wilson & Patrick Queen
Mason McCormick & James Daniels
Logan Lee & Isaiahh Loudermilk
Ryan Watts & Damontae Kazee
Joey Porter Jr. & James Pierre
Keeanu Benton & Montravius Adams
Darnell Washington & Pat Freiermuth
Nick Herbig & Jeremiah Moon
Cory Trice Jr. & Donte Jackson
Spencer Anderson & Calvin Anderson