The Pittsburgh Steelers continue to get closer to the 53-man roster limit ahead of Sunday’s 6 p.m. deadline thanks to two more roster moves Saturday afternoon.
According to the official NFL transaction sheet Saturday, the Steelers terminated the contract of veteran outside linebacker Jamin Davis, who becomes a free agent, while they waived wide receiver and Pittsburgh native Levi Wentz.
The Steelers previously signed Davis after a mandatory minicamp tryout, reuniting him with first-year defensive coordinator Patrick Graham, whom he spent time with in Las Vegas, while Wentz was signed in mid-June as part of a pair of roster moves, bringing the Pine-Richland native home.
Davis played 113 snaps in the preseason defensively for the Steelers and had 2.5 sacks in the preseason opener against the Green Bay Packers, while Wentz played 40 offensive snaps and had just one catch for nine yards on three targets in the preseason.
After being a surprise signing after minicamp, Davis had a tough hill to climb in front of him, especially with him working at outside linebacker. That put him in a room with the likes of T.J. Watt, Alex Highsmith, Nick Herbig and second-year pro Jack Sawyer, all four of whom were stone-cold locks for the 53-man roster.
He was going to need to show something on special teams to make a case for a roster spot, and he handled himself nicely on 30 special teams snaps. But his overall body of work wasn’t enough to force his way onto the roster. There’s always a chance he can circle back and land on the practice squad, providing experienced depth for the Steelers on Graham’s defense, but he’ll have to weigh his options.
Wentz will need to go through waivers, and should he clear he could then land on the practice squad. But he didn’t do much in the preseason and didn’t really standout in a positive way in training camp. It was a good moment for the Steelers to have him on the 90-man roster in training camp and have his high school football team come to Saint Vincent College in Latrobe for a day. But that might be the end of the line for him.
Prior to his time with Pittsburgh, Wentz signed with the Seattle Seahawks as an undrafted free agent, but was waived on June 8. We’ll keep a close eye on him to see if he goes unclaimed or finds a new landing spot in the NFL.