Did Steelers make mistake in attempt to cut costs?

The Steelers didn't waste any time following Super Bowl LVIII, making several cuts on Monday. However, did they make a mistake in their first round of releases to begin the offseason?

According to NFL Network's Tom Pelissero, Pittsburgh is releasing QB Mitchell Trubisky, offensive tackle Chukwuma Okorafor and punter Pressley Harvin III. The cuts saved the team $12.65 million in cap space while absorbing $7.7 million in dead money.

The Steelers were expected to make several moves ahead of free agency in March as they began the offseason $15.66 million over the salary cap, per Pro Football Focus.

However, some like The Athletic's Mark Kaboly believe Pittsburgh released one player far too soon.

"You are not going to convince me that the Steelers could not have gotten some sort of a draft pick for Chuks before the start of the new league year," Kaboly posted on X.

Okorafor, the Steelers third-round pick in 2018, allowed just two sacks in 2023, per PFF. That sample size was just half of the season as he was benched in Week 8 for reportedly "acting out," but Pittsburgh could have tried to trade him for some draft compensation.

It's unlikely the Steelers would have gotten a ton in return, especially playing on a three-year, $29.25 million contract, which he signed in 2022. But they traded struggling offensive lineman Kevin Dotson and Kendrick Green in the offseason for some mid-to-late-round picks.

It was only a matter of time before Pittsburgh parted ways with the 26-year-old after he publicly said he regretted resigning with the team.

"If I knew that was going to be the case, I probably wouldn't have chose to come back here," Okorafor said. "But at that point, there wasn't anything I could do about it."