Thanks to the signing of Darius Slay and the trade for Jalen Ramsey, the Pittsburgh Steelers have a positive but crowded situation at cornerback.
However, that situation could be bad news for one of the Steelers’ 2025 draft picks, Donte Kent, who was selected in the seventh round.
Steelers beat writer Mark Kaboly put out a 53-man roster projection on Sunday and has Kent missing the cut.
Kaboly estimates the Steelers will keep seven cornerbacks on the initial 53-man roster: Ramsey, Slay, Joey Porter Jr., James Pierre, Cory Trice, Beanie Bishop and Brandon Eichols.
At linebacker, Kaboly projects rookie Carson Bruener and veteran Cole Holcomb to get bumped at final cuts. The Steelers reporter has Patrick Queen, Payton Wilson, Malik Harrison and Mark Robinson all getting the nod.
Despite both getting cut in Kaboly’s projection, he does consider the two rookies “tough” cuts. Here’s Kaboly’s explanation for cutting Holcomb.
“Based on his special team play alone, Robinson makes the team over Cole Holcomb,” Kaboly write. “Holcomb carries a $3.64 million cap hit. That’s significant and might get him fired.”
Kent and Bruener have definitely had their fair share of issues in training camp, but they’ve also made some good plays. The problem is that there just isn’t enough space in either room.
All that said, Kent and Bruener are both candidates to grab spots on the practice squad if they don’t make the final cut.
Meanwhile, Holcomb has a chance to get snatched up off waivers by another team. Even if he passes through because of his contract, there will almost certainly be a team looking to sign him for less money.
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