The Pittsburgh Steelers have been rather busy this offseason, adding some massive names on both sides of the ball to bolster their Super Bowl hopes.
But all of the Steelers’ moves come with consequences, namely in the form of a roster crunch before the regular season begins.
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Head coach Mike Tomlin will have some difficult decisions to make prior to Week 1, so some players who were daily members of the roster last year or for the last couple of seasons may find themselves on the chopping block fairly soon.
Logan Ulrich of NFL Trade Rumors has identified one Pittsburgh player in particular who could find himself dealt before the 2025 campaign begins: linebacker Mark Robinson.
“Pittsburgh has been aggressive this offseason and focused on adding to the roster rather than subtracting,” Ulrich wrote. “That theme will likely continue this month. There’s not a lot of excess on this roster to trade, especially not after sending away S Minkah Fitzpatrick. Robinson is at the end of a deep linebacker room and could be a flip or claim.”
Robinson played in all 17 games last season, logging six tackles and a couple of forced fumbles in a special teams role. He played in 66 percent of the Steelers’ special teams snaps, so he has definitely developed into a solid contributing member for the squad.
The 26-year-old, who played his collegiate football at Ole Miss, was originally selected by Pittsburgh in the seventh round of the 2022 NFL Draft.
Robinson scarcely played during his rookie campaign, finishing with just nine tackles in four contests. The following year, however, he appeared in every game and even made a pair of starts, totaling 30 tackles, a sack and a forced fumble.
As nice as Robinson has been as a depth piece, Tomlin probably isn’t going to lose any sleep over parting ways with him. He is replaceable, and if the Steelers are actually able to extract a Day 3 draft pick out of another team for him, Pittsburgh would almost certainly make the move.
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Of course, whether or not any club is actually willing to offer that for Robinson is another question. The more likely scenario is that the Steelers will cut the Leesburg, Ga. native, who is preparing to enter the final year of his contract.
Pittsburgh added names such as quarterback Aaron Rodgers, wide receiver D.K. Metcalf and cornerback Jalen Ramsey this offseason, trying to take the next step after going 10-7 and losing in the Wild Card Round of the playoffs last year.
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