The Pittsburgh Steelers made a couple surprising cuts to begin trimming their roster Sunday. Their latest move was much more expected.
ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler reported early Sunday afternoon the Steelers released linebacker Malik Harrison. Pundits had been calling on Pittsburgh to make that cut for weeks largely because parting with Harrison will save the Steelers $4.75 million in cap space.
“Steelers releasing LB Malik Harrison, per source,” wrote Fowler. “He was owed $4.75M this year.”
Harrison started nine games for the Steelers last season, which was his first with the team. The former Baltimore Ravens linebacker signed a 2-year, $10 million contract with Pittsburgh in March 2025.
But Harrison missed most of September and October last season because of a knee injury. Upon returning, he entered the starting lineup but didn’t really have the impact most analysts expected he would.
Harrison became expendable this offseason when the team re-signed fellow linebacker Cole Holcomb and then brought back linebacker Elandon Roberts early in the preseason. The Steelers surprisingly cut Roberts on Sunday, but as a vested veteran, the team will have the opportunity to re-sign Roberts without him having to clear waivers.
Harrison didn’t play at all in Pittsburgh’s final two preseason games. That was an indicator to many pundits the team was trying to keep him healthy to release at the end of August.
In 11 games with the Steelers during 2025, Harrison posted 41 combined tackles.
Steelers Release LB Malik Harrison: Report
Again, the Steelers moving on from Harrison was not surprising.
Early in the offseason, there were rumors the Steelers could trade Patrick Queen. That would have cleared a path for Harrison to start again in Pittsburgh.
But after those rumors died down, attention turned to Harrison as the potential odd-man out. The noise around Harrison grew very loud when Roberts returned in early August and Harrison wasn’t playing in the preseason.
Given the depth chart, Harrison was a cut candidate anyway. But with the salary cap benefit, Harrison was an obvious choice to release before the NFL’s roster cut deadline.
Steelers Linebacker Depth
The Steelers released both Harrison and Roberts on Sunday because of the deep group they have at linebacker.
Queen will return to Pittsburgh this season along with fellow starter Payton Wilson. Again, Holcomb, who led the Steelers in defensive snaps through the first half of 2023, will be back too along with Carson Bruener.
That gives the Steelers three capable starting inside linebackers and another who is growing into a special teams ace. And more than likely, Roberts will be back to give the team another former defensive starter.
Harrison is a strong special teams contributor as well. But with Bruener, Holcomb and Roberts all having experience on that unit, Harrison wasn’t going to have a role there for Pittsburgh either.
So, it makes a lot of sense the team elected to grab the extra cap space.
Steelers Part Ways With Starter to Save $4.75 Million in Cap Space: Report