Five Players on Steelers Roster Bubble

While the Pittsburgh Steelers have a preliminary idea of how their 53-man roster will shape up heading into Week 1, the way in which training camp unfolds may ultimately dictate the final look of the group.

As the team gets set to report to Saint Vincent College in Latrobe, let's take a look at a handful of players who are on the roster bubble at the onset of training camp.

Mark Robinson

A seventh-round pick out of Ole Miss in 2022, Robinson played in all 34 of the Steelers' regular season games over the past two seasons. The inside linebacker logged just 159 defensive snaps over that stretch, however, only eight of which came during the 2024 campaign.

Robinson has emerged as a core special teamer for Pittsburgh, but he may find himself on the outside looking in when it's all said and done this summer. With Patrick Queen, Cole Holcomb, Payton Wilson and Malik Harrison all firmly ahead of him on the depth chart entering training camp, Robinson will need to stand out over the next month or so in order to secure a roster spot while battling it out with rookie seventh-rounder Carson Bruener.

DeMarvin Leal

Leal missed the Steelers' final 12 games last season with a neck injury he sustained vs. the Dallas Cowboys in Week 5, though it appears he's back to full strength.

The issue, however, is that there may not be a spot for the 2022 fourth-rounder on the 53-man roster. Leal is versatile enough to play either as a defensive end or outside linebacker, but Pittsburgh added a ton of new faces on the interior of its line while also selecting edge rusher Jack Sawyer in the fourth round this year.

Leal appeared in 28 games for the Steelers over the first three seasons of his career, but it'll likely take an impressive showing during training camp and the preseason for him to remain with the team by the time Week 1 rolls around.

Cordarrelle Patterson

Patterson, somewhat surprisingly, was not cut earlier in the offseason. That doesn't mean he'll make it through final roster cuts, however, as the team would still save $2.8 million against the cap by releasing him.

The all-time leader in kick return touchdowns with nine, the seven-time All-Pro averaged a career-low 21.8 yards per return for Pittsburgh in 2024 while adding 215 yards from scrimmage in 13 games.

As the Steelers' fourth running back behind Jaylen Warren, rookie third-rounder Kaleb Johnson and Kenneth Gainwell, Patterson needs a resurgent performance in Latrobe to prove that he's still capable of contributing either offensively or on special teams.

Donte Kent/Beanie Bishop Jr.

With Jalen Ramsey now in the mix, slot cornerback is no longer the need that it once was for the Steelers.

That could spell trouble for Kent and Echols, both of whom were expected to at least compete for snaps at the position alongside Brandin Echols.

Bishop, an undrafted free agent signee in 2024, was a surprise contribution as a rookie. He recorded 45 tackles, seven passes defended and four interceptions, but after losing playing time to Cam Sutton in the second half of the year, he'll need to step up in a big way once again this time around.

Kent, a rookie seventh-round pick out of Central Michigan, simply doesn't have much of a path towards earning meaningful snaps on the defensive side of the ball. For that reason, he may have to lock up a roster spot by showcasing his prowess in the return game.