Steelers Now
PITTSBURGH — The Pittsburgh Steelers have waived outside linebacker DeMarvin Leal, the team announced on Thursday.
Leal, the team’s third-round pick in the 2022 NFL Draft, was waived once already this season, clearing as the team made its final cuts to a 53-man roster at the end of the preseason in August.
Leal joined the Steelers practice squad, and was recalled to the active roster on Sept. 17 after an injuries to Alex Highsmith and Malik Harrison.
Leal played in three games for the Steelers, recording two tackles. He played on 17 snaps of defense and nine snaps of special teams.
Highsmith missed practice on Wednesday with another ankle injury, but returned on Thursday, and Leal being waived is a very good sign for Highsmith to be able to play this week.
The Steelers should still have plenty of edge rusher depth behind Highsmith and T.J. Watt, with Nick Herbig and rookie Jack Sawyer manning the second team and Harrison able to shift over from inside linebacker, if necessary.
Waiving Leal will create a vacancy on the Steelers’ 53-man roster. They will have to create a spot to return quarterback Will Howard from the IR next week.
Leal, 25, never lived up to the billing of his draft selection with the Steelers, thanks to a combination of injuries and an awkward fit in the Pittsburgh defensive scheme.
The Steelers bounced Leal back and forth between defensive tackle and outside linebacker over his three seasons in Pittsburgh. A neck injury limited him to just five games played in 2024.
On the other side of that injury, the Steelers committed to playing Leal at outside linebacker for the 2025 season. But they also drafted Sawyer in the fourth round of the 2025 NFL Draft, pushing Leal to the fifth spot on the depth chart.
Leal got a long look for the Steelers in the preseason, with Watt not participating and Highsmith and Herbig both dealing with injuries. Despite 104 defensive snaps over four games, he was able to amass just five tackles, no sacks and five quarterback pressures.
The 6-foot-4, 290-pounder was once considered a potential first-round pick option before falling to the Steelers in the third-round.
This article originally appeared on Steelers Now: Steelers Waive Former Third-Round Draft Pick
