Five Pittsburgh Steelers Who Won't Be Back In 2024

The Pittsburgh Steelers were bounced from the playoffs in the Wild Card Round, thanks to a 31-17 loss to the Buffalo Bills on Monday. Now they enter an uncertain offseason. Head coach Mike Tomlin has one year left on his contract and the team is currently $6.7 million over the salary cap for 2024 while needing to find a ton of upgrades. Changes have to be made.

What follows is a look at five Steelers who won't be back in 2024 as the team shuffles things to change its fortunes.

Mitch Trubisky

Trubisky signed a two-year contract with the Steelers back in 2022, then signed a two-year extension last offseason. It's safe to say he won't play out the extra two years on his deal. Whether it's a good thing or not, Kenny Pickett is the team's quarterback for now, which makes Trubisky a waste of money. In 2023, the former No. 2 overall pick played in five games, completing 67 of 107 passes (62.5 percent), for 632 yards, with four touchdowns and five interceptions. He played his way out of town.

Cutting him Trubisky save the Steelers almost $3 million, it could be $5.2 million if he's a post-June 1 cut. The Steelers are likely to be actively looking to upgrade the quarterback position this offseason. That means they'll need to move off of Trubisky's deal.

Patrick Peterson

Peterson signed a two-year, $14 million deal with the Steelers before the 2023 season, and it's becoming clear the 33-year-old just isn't what he used to be. That's to be expected as he ages, but Pro Football Focus handed him a grade of 60.5 this season, a massive drop. At one point the Steelers even shifted him over to safety to fill gaps. The former All-Pro is probably nothing more than a rotational cornerback at this point.

Cutting Peterson would save the Steelers $6.85 million and seems like the easiest, smartest move they could make this offseason. That's solid savings without removing a key contributing piece of the roster.

Mason Cole

The Steelers signed Mason Cole to a three-year, $15.75 million deal to take over as the team's center before the 2022 season. Simply put, he hasn't been good enough. PFF rated Cole at 57.3 in 2023, that's not great. He struggled with the consistency of his snaps and was shaky all around. The team needs to find a replacement.

The Steelers can save $4.75 million by cutting Cole loose and it's a fair bet they'll do just that.

Larry Ogunjobi

Larry Ogunjobi got a three-year, $28.75 million deal from the Steelers last March after a successful first season in town. He followed that up with a clunker in 2023. In 17 games, Ogunjobi had 43 tackles, three sacks and a forced fumble. PFF gave him a grade of 59.2.

It isn't that Ogunjobi is terrible, it's that his deal is worth cutting. The Steelers can save $6.2 million by letting him go, and that increases to $9.75 million if he's let go after June 1. For a team over the cap with a lot of holes to plug, that's a lot of cash.

Chukwuma Okorafor

The Steelers took Okorafor with a third-round pick in the 2018 NFL Draft. He worked his way into the starting lineup at right tackle and eventually secured the job. In March of 2022, the Steelers rewarded him with a three-year, $29.25 million contract extension. Two seasons later he's almost certain to be looking for work. Okofora suffered a concussion early in the season and never really got on track. He only played 436 snaps all season but allowed two sacks and committed eight penalties. PFF graded him out at 60.4.

Cutting Okorafor would save Pittsburgh $8.75 million and they have an in-house replacement with 2023 first-round pick Broderick Jones. It's a no-brainer move.