Steelers Cut James Harrison

The Steelers’ latest Super Bowl push will not include James Harrison come playoff time. Pittsburgh cut the veteran outside linebacker, per a team announcement.

Harrison’s departure coincides with the Steelers activating right tackle Marcus Gilbert off the reserve/suspended list. Harrison re-signed with the Steelers on a two-year deal in March. He will now be placed on waivers.

While this move is certainly a surprise given Harrison’s impact in Pittsburgh and his success as recently as last season, the 39-year-old edge rusher has not played much this year. The Steelers used Harrison on just 40 snaps throughout the season, making him a healthy scratch in some games and failing to deploy him in others.

Harrison said earlier this month he would not have re-signed with the Steelers had he known how little he would play. He will now see if another contending team values him more. He’s attached to a two-year, $3.5MM deal with little guaranteed money remaining. He was a full participant in Steelers practice today.

There was no animosity or bad feelings. It’s just the business of the NFL. I believe he still wants to play,” Harrison’s agent, William Parise, told ESPN’s Josina Anderson (Twitter link). “We’ll have to wait and see what happens with waivers.”

A team submitting a waiver claim for Harrison could get him for just $70K weekly, Jason Fitzgerald of OverTheCap tweets.

If another team does not take on that contract, it’s conceivable Harrison — who began his NFL career with the 2002 Steelers — could return to the team if he clears waivers despite his sporadic usage. The other time he ventured away from Pittsburgh, with the 2013 Bengals, did not go well and led to a sudden retirement. Upon unretiring with the Steelers later that year, Harrison re-emerged as an edge force. As recently as last season, he was one of Pro Football Focus’ top-graded edge defenders. This year, though, Harrison has just five tackles and one sack.

Should this be it with the Steelers, Harrison crafted an impressive resume. He stands atop the storied franchise’s sack hierarchy with 80.5 — 3.5 ahead of Jason Gildon — and earned defensive player of the year acclaim in 2008. That season ended with Pittsburgh’s sixth Super Bowl title, one Harrison helped cement with his 100-yard interception return in Super Bowl XLIII.

Bud Dupree, T.J. Watt, Arthur Moats and Anthony Chickillo comprise the Steelers’ edge-rushing contingent. Gilbert has missed the past four games because of a performance-enhancing drugs suspension.

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