With Pittsburgh Steelers training camp now just two weeks away(!), now is a good time to begin looking at the roster as a whole and circle some names that could be in trouble, especially after the offseason the Steelers have had.

With that in mind, these players are pretty obviously at risk of being released ahead of the 2025 season.

DE DeMarvin Leal

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Leal has yet to take off as a part of the edge-rusher rotation in Pittsburgh, and he is entering his fourth season. In 2024, Leal appeared in just five games, registering four tackles. In terms of total snaps, he was on the field for just 96 of them. Considering all the additions the Steelers made to their defensive line during free agency and the draft, Leal will likely be left without a spot.

RB Cordarrelle Patterson

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Patterson did next to nothing last season. He was signed directly after the kickoff rule was changed, and yet he returned just 11 kicks. In totality, he had one touchdown on 55 total touches in 2024. On top of that, the Steelers signed Kenneth Gainwell and Trey Sermon to put behind Jaylen Warren and Kaleb Johnson. All things considered, don’t expect to see the 34 year-old back in Pittsburgh.

TE Connor Heyward

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There’s always been this whole side-eye thing that happens when discussing Connor Heyward due to his last name and the debate on whether or not he would be on the roster if he weren’t Cam’s brother (you can probably guess where I fall in that debate). After Pittsburgh acquired Jonnu Smith, they now have four tight ends on the roster. They were originally scheduled to have that number before Donald Parham suffered a season-ending injury, which feels like they were planning on moving on from Heyward, even though they had a similar setup in 2024.

Heyward has six catches in 2024, and has 41 across three years in Pittsburgh. He plays predominantly on special teams and, frankly, is a very replaceable player.