Pittsburgh Steelers Cut-Down Tracker: Who is reportedly being released
The NFL mandates all 32 teams trim their rosters from 90 players to 53 ahead of the start of Week 1 of the regular season. To be more specific, teams have to have their rosters trimmed before 4pm EST Tuesday, but many teams are already starting to release players.
Some teams will make these transactions official, while others are just reports from reporters who are hearing things from players, agents, or team sources. While not official, they are certainly worth noting. For the Pittsburgh Steelers there have already been reports suggesting some players could be getting released. While most of these players who are going from the 90-man offseason roster to being unemployed won’t shock anyone, every team has to make tough decisions as it pertains to their final 53-man roster.
Let’s get to the reports of players who are being released by the Steelers ahead of the Tuesday deadline:
Official Steelers Cuts:
Friday (11)
LB Kenny Willekes
DB Kam Alexander
DB Quindell Johnson
DB Kyler McMichael
DB Mikey Victor
OL Doug Nester
OL Julian Pearl
QB Logan Woodside
RB Evan Hull
TE Kevin Foelsch
LS Jake McQuaide
Monday (13)
LB Mark Robinson
LB Julius Welschof
DT Kyler Baugh
DB D’Shawn Jamison
DB Daryl Porter
RB Lew Nichols
FB/RB/TE Max Hurleman
WR Lance McCutcheon
TE JJ Galbreath
OL Steven Jones
OL Aiden Williams
K Ben Sauls
P Cam Johnston
Reports:
OLB DeMarvin Leal
#Steelers are releasing DL DeMarvin Leal, per source.
— Jeremy Fowler (@JFowlerESPN) August 26, 2025
OT Dylan Cook
Steelers are releasing OL Dylan Cook.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) August 26, 2025
OLB Eku Leota
The #Steelers are releasing OLB Eku Leota, who spent last year on their practice squad.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) August 26, 2025
WR Robert Woods
The #Steelers are releasing veteran WR Robert Woods, source said, though the door is open for a possible return. Either way, he plans to play in 2025.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) August 26, 2025
Be sure to stay tuned to SCN for the latest news and notes surrounding the Steelers as they prepare for the New York Jets in Week 1 of the regular season.
I have to admit, I’m a little surprised to see Leal is likely to be cut. Not because he’s done anything outstanding, but because he always seems to be there (yeah, I know it’s only been a few years) and he’s dependably average.
Somewhat surprised, and not about Cook. I was expecting him to grab onto the Swing Tackle spot and make it his. I guess those two penalties in the final game were the nail in the coffin.
Calvin Anderson getting healthy sealed the deal.
He only had 1 penalty in Week 3. One in each game actually. Only 2 were accepted.
I think where you are mistaken was a holding call in the 3rd quarter with 7:39 remaining. The call was actually on 16 (Robert Woods), not 60 (Dylan Cook). That’s what the Steelers Media website has as well as PFF.
I did a quick search, and it said 2. I then dug deeper, and could find listings of 1, 2 or 3. AI kinda sucks. Either way, he’s gone. Perhaps we’ll see him on the PS.
Checked the official NFL gamebook and the only penalty on Dylan Cook in Carolina was a False Start at 8:32 in the 3rd quarter. Now Ryan McCollum had three penalties in the game.
While I knew that it had a .0005% chance of happening, I was holding out some hope that Ben Sauls would be retained and Chris Boswell sent away. I will 100% admit that most of my wish was rooted in being an ardent Pitt fan. Still, Sauls is 10 years younger than Boswell and has proven to be a masterful kicker, particularly at Heinz Field. Heck, I was in El Paso and watched Sauls make kick after kick in brutal winds to secure a win at the Sun Bowl. Making the change wouldn’t have been crazy. Here’s hoping that Sauls latches on somewhere. He’s a legit NFL kicker all day.
The thing is, the job was always going to belong to Boz.
And Ben did well, but he has yet to prove he can be clutch in real NFL games.I wouldn’t rule out the possibility we stash him on the PS as insurance if Boz gets hurt.
Chris Boswell didn’t prove he belonged in the NFL until he actually did too, though.
Sure, but you don’t just throw that away when you’ve found it and the guy is still at the top of his game.
Moving on from Boz would’ve been crazy. He’s the best kicker in the game and the team mvp. I’m all for rooting for a guy for personal preference though so I get where you’re coming from. Would be interesting to see what Boswell could fetch back in a trade. I’d hate the trade, but would be a fun experiment.
You don’t have to sell me on Boswell’s merits. I admitted that my logic is more emotional than anything. Still, I don’t know if it’s necessarily crazy to get younger at any position if all things are equal. We don’t know that these kickers are equal which is why I didn’t give it a realistic chance. With Boz holding out and Sauls being perfect though? It might not have been completely illogical.
Sauls’ “miss” occurred with a defensive lineman snapping the ball, by the way, given the Christian Kuntz injury. He was perfect with an actual long snapper in the game.
He’ll have the path Boswell did. Matthew Wright has not really caught on, good sub, Sauls is much better than Wright. Best Pitt kicker since Fred Cox, is Sauls.
What little I saw of Leota in Game 2 I thought was good. I didn’t watch the Panthers game. Hoping to see him on the practice squad as well.