With the excitement of the regular season approaching comes the reality that the 53-man roster needs to be set, and that meant a lot of roster moves for the Steelers.
The team made all of the moves official on Saturday, ahead of the 4 p.m. deadline.
Among the cuts are two 2019 draft picks, sixth rounder Sutton Smith and seventh rounder Derwin Grey, as well as Marcus Allen, a fifth-round pick in 2018. The team also released veteran receiver Eli Rogers.
On offense the team released quarterback Devlin Hodges, running backs Trey Edmunds, Travon McMillian and Malik Williams, receivers Trey Griffey, Johnny Holton, Tevin Jones, Brandon Reilly, Eli Rogers and Diontae Spencer, and tight ends Micky Crum, Kevin Rader, Christian Scotland-Williamson and Trevor Wood. On the offensive line Garrett Brumfield, Derwin Gray, J.C. Hassanauer, Patrick Morris and Damian Prince were released.
Defensively the team let go of defensive backs Marcus Allen, Dravon Askew-Henry, Marcelis Branch, Jhvonte Dean, P.J. Locke and Trevon Mathis, linebackers Jayrone Elliott, Christian Kuntz, Tegray Scales, Sutton Smith and Robert Spillane, and defensive linemen Winston Craig, Greg Gilmore, Henry Mondeaux, Casey Sayles and Conor Sheehy.
In the battle for kicker and punter, the incumbents won out, with Matthew Wright and Ian Berryman both being released.
Earlier in the day the team traded offensive lineman Jerald Hawkins to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The Steelers also gave Tampa a seventh-round pick in the 2021 NFL Draft, and got Tampa's sixth-round pick in 2021 in return.
Take a look at the Steelers 53-man roster heading into Week 1 of the 2019 season

Take a look at the Steelers 53-man roster heading into Week 1 of the 2019 season.

Ola Adeniyi

Ola Adeniyi

Tyson Alualu

Tyson Alualu

Zach Banner

Zach Banner

Mark Barron

Mark Barron

Jordan Berry

Jordan Berry

Chris Boswell

Chris Boswell

Isaiah Buggs

Isaiah Buggs

Artie Burns

Artie Burns

Devin Bush

Devin Bush

Kameron Canaday

Kameron Canaday

Anthony Chickillo

Anthony Chickillo

James Conner

James Conner

Jordan Dangerfield

Jordan Dangerfield

Sean Davis

Sean Davis

David DeCastro

David DeCastro

Joshua Dobbs

Joshua Dobbs

Bud Dupree

Bud Dupree

Terrell Edmunds

Terrell Edmunds

Matt Feiler

Matt Feiler

B.J. Finney

B.J. Finney

Ramon Foster

Ramon Foster

Zach Gentry

Zach Gentry

Ulysees Gilbert III

Ulysees Gilbert III

Xavier Grimble

Xavier Grimble

Joe Haden

Joe Haden

Javon Hargrave

Javon Hargrave

Cameron Heyward

Cameron Heyward

Mike Hilton

Mike Hilton

Diontae Johnson

Diontae Johnson

Fred Johnson

Fred Johnson

Kameron Kelly

Kameron Kelly

Justin Layne

Justin Layne

Tyler Matakevich

Tyler Matakevich

Daniel McCullers

Daniel McCullers

Vance McDonald

Vance McDonald

Donte Moncrief

Donte Moncrief

Steven Nelson

Steven Nelson

Roosevelt Nix

Roosevelt Nix

Chuks Okorafor

Chuks Okorafor

Maurkice Pouncey

Maurkice Pouncey

Ben Roethlisberger

Ben Roethlisberger

Mason Rudolph

Mason Rudolph

Jaylen Samuels

Jaylen Samuels

Tuzar Skipper

Tuzar Skipper

JuJu Smith-Schuster

JuJu Smith-Schuster

Benny Snell Jr.

Benny Snell Jr.

Cameron Sutton

Cameron Sutton

Ryan Switzer

Ryan Switzer

Stephon Tuitt

Stephon Tuitt

Alejandro Villanueva

Alejandro Villanueva

James Washington

James Washington

T.J. Watt

T.J. Watt

Vince Williams

Vince Williams
Coach Mike Tomlin said before the Carolina game that making moves is never easy, but it's a process that begins when the team plays their first preseason game and continues throughout, with it picking up even before the team landed back in Pittsburgh on Thursday night.
"As we walk off the field – it's that level of urgency, and I can't stress that point enough," said Tomlin during a weekly Q & A with Bob Labriola before the game. "We walk off the field, it's all eyes on our regular season opener and putting ourselves in position to do what we need to do there. In some form or fashion, it's almost instant in terms of thinking about the things that need to be done and the process in terms of meeting and having necessary discussions about getting the team cut down.
"Sometimes the most significant decisions don't transpire until very late in the process. Oftentimes, you'll see teams cut down to 55 or 56 guys quickly. Friday in most instances. And they'll save four or five significant spots, and those are the decisions that may require more discussion or maybe surveying options relative to other cities and so forth. But that doesn't transpire on Friday. The things that are discussion-worthy and have that level of complexity occur later in the weekend."
Teams can add 10 players to the practice squad beginning at 12 noon on Sunday.