Steelers Urged to Consider Releasing ‘Valuable’ Defensive Starter

Getty One analyst has implored head coach Mike Tomlin and the Pittsburgh Steelers to consider releasing a defensive starter.

Mitch Trubisky. William Jackson. Myles Jack. These are the players who have been floated as possible cut-candidates this offseason to provide some much needed salary cap space for the Pittsburgh Steelers.

But Bleacher Report’s Kristopher Knox argued, despite calling him “a valuable rotational player,” that the Steelers should also consider releasing defensive lineman Montravius Adams.

“In 2023, Adams is set to carry a cap hit of $3.2 million,” Knox wrote. “The Steelers could save $2.5 million by letting him go.

“That’s not an insignificant sum, and the Steelers will have to determine whether Adams can carry a larger role or is expendable.”

Spotrac projected the Steelers to be about $3.4 million over the salary cap as of January 30. Releasing Adams could help the team get closer to under the cap.

Reasons Steelers Could Release Adams

Adams started a career-high nine games for the Steelers in 2022. He was in the Pittsburgh starting lineup each of the last seven contests of the season.

But Knox noted despite starting more than half of the team’s games, Adams was only on the field for 281 defensive snaps, which was 26% over the entire season.

Adams dressed for every game during the 2022 season, but he lined up for more than half of the Steelers’ defensive snaps in a game just once.

He did some good things while on the field. Adams finished the season with a career-high 26 combined tackles, including 1 tackle for loss and 1 pass defense.

In four seasons with the Green Bay Packers from 2017-20, Adams averaged only 11 combined tackles.

But based on the amount of snaps he played, Adams seems replaceable on paper.

Adams’ Value to the Steelers

There’s one obvious issue with the idea of releasing Adams. He’s the only defensive lineman besides Cameron Heyward under contract for the Steelers next season with significant NFL experience.

Steelers defensive linemen Larry Ogunjobi, Chris Wormley and Tyson Alualu are all pending free agents.

Second and third-year defensive linemen DeMarvin Leal and Isaiah Loudermilk could be ready for bigger roles next season. The Steelers could also select a defensive lineman early in the NFL draft.

But cutting Adams and then subsequently counting on young players to compliment Heyward, who will turn 34 in May, would be a risk.

If it meant saving several million for the salary cap, it might be a risk worth taking. But for a savings of only $2.5 million, the Steelers may elect to keep Adams for his experience.

Cutting Adams and then signing a different veteran defensive lineman is always a possibility. However, it’s difficult to imagine that would result in much cap savings with Adams only counting as a $3.2 million cap hit in 2023.

The Packers drafted Adams in the third round of the 2017 NFL Draft. He played in just seven games as a rookie and then started three contests over four seasons with the Packers.

Adams spent time with the New England Patriots and New Orleans Saints during 2021. The Steelers signed Adams off the Saints practice squad in November of that season.

The Steelers then awarded Adams a two-year contract last March.

In six NFL seasons, Adams has posted 85 combined tackles, including 7 tackles for loss, 9 quarterback hits, 6 pass defenses and 1.5 sacks.