Three Players on Roster Bubble Heading Into Steelers Minicamp

Kaleb Johnson

Johnson was viewed as the potential future of the Steelers' running back room when he was selected in the third round of the 2025 NFL Draft.

Because Jaylen Warren hadn't yet signed his extension and Kenneth Gainwell was viewed as nothing more than a third-down, change-of-pace back at the time, Johnson was stepping into a situation where he could essentially serve as the team's No. 2 option at the position before garnering more touches in 2026.

The Iowa product's rookie campaign was a complete disappointment, however, as he recorded just 78 yards from scrimmage on 29 touches. Johnson also lost all special teams responsibilities after letting a kickoff bounce over his head and into the endzone in Week 2, which the Seattle Seahawks picked up for a touchdown in the fourth quarter of a close game.

Johnson was a standout during Week 1 of OTAs and logged some first-team reps without Warren and Dowdle present, but he's going to need to do a lot more than that in order to convince Pittsburgh to hold onto him.

The 22-year-old is a powerful runner with good vision, but his lack of explosiveness and refinement in the passing game could be detrimental to his chances of cracking the 53-man roster.

Dean Lowry

After initially backing out of a reported agreement with Pittsburgh in April as he continued to recover from a torn ACL he suffered during training camp last summer, Lowry officially signed a one-year deal to return to the franchise in the middle of Week 2 of OTAs.

The 31-year-old's original contract with the Steelers, which was for two years and $5 million, saw him play in a total of 12 games during the 2024 campaign before missing all of last year. Over that span, Lowry posted five tackles and a sack in 129 defensive snaps.

A fifth-round pick in 2016 by Mike McCarthy and the Green Bay Packers, Lowry has 132 games of NFL experience under his belt and is a nice veteran presence to have at the back-end of Pittsburgh's depth chart along the interior of the defensive line.

Coming off a major injury, and with the likes of Esezi Otomewo, Logan Lee and Gabriel Rubio also battling for a spot, though, Lowry is firmly on the bubble heading into minicamp.

Sebastian Castro

Pittsburgh's depth at safety is middling at best, but Castro still isn't anywhere near a lock to make the roster.

An undrafted free agent signing out of Iowa in 2025, the 25-year-old was let go at final roster cuts after posting 11 tackles during the preseason. He was added to the practice squad after clearing waivers, but the Tampa Bay Buccaneers later signed him to their active roster in late September.

Castro appeared in just a single contest for Tampa Bay before getting waived in early November. The Steelers subsequently claimed him, and he logged 72 special teams snaps throughout the rest of the campaign.

With DeShon Elliott returning from a knee injury and Jaquan Brisker set to hold down the fort next to him, Pittsburgh has a trustworthy starting tandem at safety.

The door is open for Castro to make his mark behind them, as the team still hasn't finalized the Darnell Savage signing, but the former's subpar athletic traits and coverage skills make it risky to put him on the field on defense.

Jalen Ramsey will likely see some time at safety in certain subpackages too, and seventh-round pick Robert Spears-Jennings is a rangier option than Castro with more upside.

Castro is capable of becoming a special teams stalwart, but he'll need to prove himself on the defensive side of the ball at least a little bit in order to remove himself from the roster bubble.