{"id":80645,"date":"2024-01-31T01:57:06","date_gmt":"2024-01-31T01:57:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nflklinh.playsetmusic.com\/?p=80645"},"modified":"2024-01-31T01:57:06","modified_gmt":"2024-01-31T01:57:06","slug":"steelers-veteran-defensive-lineman-called-2024-cut-candidate-kieu-linh","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/playsetmusic.com\/steelers-veteran-defensive-lineman-called-2024-cut-candidate-kieu-linh\/","title":{"rendered":"Steelers Veteran Defensive Lineman Called 2024 Cut Candidate"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sitting more than $14 million over the salary cap,\u00a0according to Spotrac, the\u00a0Pittsburgh Steelers\u00a0are going to have difficult decisions to make this offseason. One those tough choices could be whether or not to keep veteran defensive lineman\u00a0Larry Ogunjobi.<\/p>\n

\"Mike<\/p>\n

Bleacher Report\u2019s Kristopher Knox argued\u00a0that on January 29 when he listed Ogunjobi a player the Steelers must consider cutting this offseason.<\/p>\n

\u201cOgunjobi is by no means a bad player, but his production doesn\u2019t quite match his price point,\u201d\u00a0Knox wrote. \u201cPittsburgh needs to bolster a defense that ranked 21st in yards per rush allowed, and moving on from Ogunjobi could be part of the process.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Steelers signed\u00a0Ogunjobi to a 3-year, $28.75 million contract after a successful 2022 campaign in Pittsburgh. But the deal was front loaded.<\/p>\n

After having a $4.93 million cap hit in 2023, Ogunjobi\u2019s cap hit will jump to $13.28 million for 2024.<\/p>\n

According to Over the Cap, the Steelers can save $6.22 million in cap space by releasing Ogunjobi. If the team designates Ogunjobi a post-June 1 cut, the Steelers will save $9.75 million.<\/p>\n

\n

Why Larry Ogunjobi Could be a Cut Candidate for the Pittsburgh Steelers<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n

Overall, Ogunjobi had a solid 2023 season.\u00a0He posted\u00a0a 58.7 player grade at Pro Football Focus, which isn\u2019t a very impressive grade, but it\u2019s not much different than the 61.7 player grade he had in 2022.<\/p>\n

Before 2022, Ogunjobi hadn\u2019t recorded a PFF grade of at least 58 since 2018.<\/p>\n

The seven-year veteran also excelled in the more traditional statistics during 2023.\u00a0He had\u00a0more sacks, pass defenses and forced fumbles this past season than 2022.<\/p>\n

But a cap hit north of $13 million for Ogunjobi is a bit pricy. PFF ranked him below average against the run, and he will turn 30 in June.<\/p>\n

The Steelers drafted\u00a0Keeanu Benton\u00a0in the second round of\u00a0the 2023 NFL draft. Benton played very well as a rookie,\u00a0posting a 76.9 PFF player grade.<\/p>\n

If the Steelers again used an early draft pick on a defensive lineman, they could have two young cornerstones to play with\u00a0Cameron Heyward\u00a0(assuming he returns).<\/p>\n

That\u2019s a much cheaper route than keeping Ogunjobi. It will also make Pittsburgh\u2019s defensive line younger and potentially more productive.<\/p>\n

Reasons Steelers Should Keep Ogunjobi for 2024<\/h2>\n

However, the reasons to try and keep Ogunjobi are fairly obvious too. Even with another early draft pick along the defensive line, the Steelers could use Ogunjobi for depth next season.<\/p>\n

He could even continue to start until a younger player is ready to supplant him.<\/p>\n

Knox argued that Benton and\u00a0DeMarvin Leal\u00a0make Ogunjobi expendable this offseason. But while Benton appears poised for a bigger role in 2024, Leal was a healthy scratch in the team\u2019s final four contests.<\/p>\n

Tomlin received a question about Leal\u2019s future\u00a0in his post-season press conference on January 18.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere certainly is, but he\u2019s got to be a component of that,\u201d\u00a0Tomlin said\u00a0when asked about if Leal had a path to having a bigger role. \u201cObviously, we put helmets on guys that we think are best positioned to help us secure victory, and he hadn\u2019t been a component of that, and so he\u2019s got some work to do.\u201d<\/p>\n

The only other defensive lineman of note\u00a0the Steelers have on their depth chart is\u00a0Isaiahh Loudermilk. Therefore, cutting Ogunjobi would significantly hurt Pittsburgh\u2019s defensive line depth.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

It\u2019s a risk the Steelers may be forced to consider, though, with their salary cap situation.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sitting more than $14 million over the salary cap,\u00a0according to Spotrac, the\u00a0Pittsburgh Steelers\u00a0are going to have difficult decisions to make this offseason. One those tough choices could… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rank_math_lock_modified_date":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-80645","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-nfl"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/playsetmusic.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80645"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/playsetmusic.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/playsetmusic.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/playsetmusic.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/playsetmusic.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=80645"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/playsetmusic.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80645\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/playsetmusic.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=80645"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/playsetmusic.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=80645"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/playsetmusic.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=80645"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}