The Steelers traded two players Saturday, cut a veteran with Super Bowl experience and only one of their selections from this year’s draft.
A busy day at Steelers headquarters concluded after general manager Kevin Colbert traded receiver Sammie Coates and cornerback Ross Cockrell and cut veteran tight end David Johnson and rookie sixth-round pick Colin Holba.
Coates, who had a promising start a year ago before injuries stalled his development, was dealt to the Cleveland Browns along with a 2019 seventh-round pick for a sixth-round pick in next year’s draft. Cockrell, who started 23 games the past two seasons, was swapped to the New York Giants for a conditional draft pick.
Those were the biggest moves on the day the Steelers had to trim their roster to 53 players. They’ll have to make one more move by Monday assuming running back Le’Veon Bell signs his one-year contract. He passed his physical Friday, but has yet to sign his $12.12 million franchise tender.
That’s expected to happen before the Steelers practice Monday.
It’s important to note the roster as constituted Saturday likely will not be the roster the Steelers open the season with next Sunday in Cleveland. In addition to the move that will be made once Bell is signed the Steelers could add a player that was released from another team.
The Steelers kept 11 defensive backs on their initial roster, including seven cornerbacks. That could change if Cameron Sutton has a serious hamstring injury. He aggravated the injury in the final preseason game Thursday and is a candidate to be placed on short-term injured reserve.
In addition to Sutton, a rookie third-round pick, the Steelers kept corners Artie Burns, Joe Haden, William Gay, Mike Hilton, Brian Allen and Coty Sensabaugh.
The Steelers also kept nine offensive linemen. The five returning starters were joined by reserves B.J. Finney, Chris Hubbard, Jerald Hawkins and Matt Feiler.
The Steelers kept six receivers and only three tight ends. Johnson became expendable after the Steelers acquired tight end Vance McDonald from the San Francisco 49ers last week. Johnson played for the Steelers from 2009-13 and again last season. He appeared in 68 games for the Steelers with 30 starts.
Johnson, who was a reserve on the 2010 team that lost Super Bowl XLV, only played 24 percent of the offensive snaps in 2016 and that number likely would have declined this season with fullback Roosevelt Nix healthy to start the season.
In addition to starters Antonio Brown and Martavis Bryant, the other four receivers on the initial roster are Eli Rogers, JuJu Smith-Schuster, Justin Hunter and Darrius Heyward-Bey. Hunter outplayed Coates in the preseason and the Steelers like Heyward-Bey on special teams.
It was a swift decline for Coates, a third-round pick in 2015, after a torrid start to last season. Coates had 22 receptions for 446 yards and two touchdowns for the Steelers in 2016, with the bulk of that production coming in the first five games. But he injured his fingers in a game against the Jets in October and later his groin, and he was relegated to mostly special teams for the remainder of the season.
The Steelers used a third-round pick on Coates because in the spring of 2015 they knew Bryant was in the NFL drug program. Coates, in essence, was insurance against Bryant being suspended.
But it was clear this spring the Steelers were dissatisfied with Coates when they signed Hunter to a one-year contract to compete with him.
Cockrell also fell out of favor this summer. He started all 16 regular-season games and three playoff games last season. But the Steelers would like to incorporate more man coverage schemes in their defense this season, and Cockrell was beaten out by Coty Sensabaugh, another free agent they signed in the spring.
The decision to release Holba was mildly surprising considering the Steelers spent a sixth-round pick on him. Free agent Kameron Canaday is on the roster unless the Steelers add another long snapper in the next few days.
Other notable roster decisions Saturday included keeping undrafted free-agent running back Terrell Watson, who made the roster over veterans Fitzgerald Toussaint and Knile Davis; the emergence of other undrafted players such as Hilton and offensive lineman Matt Feiler; and the release of 2015 second-round pick Senquez Golson, whose career has been riddled with injuries.
The Steelers can sign players to their practice squad starting at noon Sunday.
Ray Fittipaldo: rfittipaldo@post-gazette.com and Twitter @rayfitt1.
First Published: September 2, 2017, 8:46 p.m.
