{"id":57258,"date":"2025-06-20T02:39:07","date_gmt":"2025-06-20T02:39:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=57258"},"modified":"2025-06-20T02:39:07","modified_gmt":"2025-06-20T02:39:07","slug":"breaking-steelers-clear-roster-spot-with-veteran-rb-release","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=57258","title":{"rendered":"BREAKING: Steelers Clear Roster Spot With Veteran RB Release.."},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"post-featured-container-id\">\n<div id=\"post-featured\" class=\"wp-caption \">\n<div class=\"h-responsive\">\n<figure class=\"h-responsive__inner\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"attachment-featured-image size-featured-image wp-post-image\" src=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/GettyImages-2184048337-5.jpg?quality=65&amp;strip=all&amp;w=780\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 820px) 95vw, 780px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/GettyImages-2184048337-5.jpg?quality=65&amp;strip=all&amp;w=780 780w, https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/GettyImages-2184048337-5.jpg?quality=15&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1100 1100w, https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/GettyImages-2184048337-5.jpg?quality=35&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1350 1350w\" alt=\"Mike Tomlin Jonathan Ward\" width=\"780\" height=\"439\" data-img-load-time=\"85\" data-dom-ready-time=\"179\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wp-caption-text\"><span class=\"caption-credit\">Getty<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"c-post-image-caption-text\">Head coach Mike Tomlin and the Pittsburgh Steelers announced releasing veteran running back Jonathan Ward on Thursday.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>The\u00a0Pittsburgh Steelers\u00a0are moving on from running back\u00a0Jonathan Ward, again.<\/p>\n<p>The team announced\u00a0Thursday it released Ward from the offseason roster. The Steelers didn\u2019t include a corresponding move, so for the time being, Pittsburgh will have an extra roster opening.<\/p>\n<p>Thursday marked the fourth time the Steelers released Ward in the past year. The veteran running back had been on the Pittsburgh roster since signing a futures contract with the team on January 20.<\/p>\n<p>Ward rushed\u00a0for 22 yards on five carries in four games for the Steelers last season. In 46 NFL games, he has registered 91 rushing yards in his NFL career.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h2>Steelers Part Ways With RB Jonathan Ward<\/h2>\n<p>Technically, Ward has experienced just one stint with the Steelers. A player has to sign with another organization before returning to a club for it to count as multiple stints.<\/p>\n<p>Ward hasn\u2019t been on any other team since first signing with the Steelers on May 21, 2024.<\/p>\n<p>But since then,\u00a0the Steelers have signed\u00a0and released Ward now four times. First, Ward didn\u2019t make the team\u2019s roster after 2024 training camp, but he returned on the team\u2019s practice squad to begin the season.<\/p>\n<p>Ward played in three games during October as a practice squad elevation. After he reached the maximum amount of elevations, the Steelers signed Ward to their active roster on Oct. 28 for Week 8.<\/p>\n<p>Following that matchup, the Steelers released Ward, to only re-sign him to their practice squad.<\/p>\n<p>That happened again during the second half of last season. The Steelers waived Ward on Dec. 4 and then brought him back on the practice squad two days later.<\/p>\n<p>Given that history, the safe bet is this won\u2019t be the last of Ward in Pittsburgh. The team \u00a0clearly doesn\u2019t mind using the running back to juggle roster spots.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h2>Who Will the Steelers Add to Replace Ward on the Roster?<\/h2>\n<p>After the Steelers announced the release of Ward on Thursday afternoon, fans were quick to wonder who the team might be targeting to replace the running back on the roster.<\/p>\n<p>Pundits have argued\u00a0this week the Steelers should add a cornerback in free agency.\u00a0Some fans on social media speculated\u00a0that releasing Ward could be a sign the Steelers were making room for former All-Pro cornerback\u00a0Jalen Ramsey.<\/p>\n<p>Technically, the Steelers already had a roster space available to add Ramsey if they wished. Before Ward\u2019s release, Pittsburgh had 90 players on its offseason roster, but edge rusher\u00a0Julius Welschof\u00a0is exempt through the NFL\u2019s international player program.<\/p>\n<p>In essence, the Steelers are permitted 91 players, so they already had the space before releasing Ward to add another player.<\/p>\n<p>Still, it\u2019s been rather obvious the Steelers haven\u2019t wanted to take advantage of Welschof\u2019s exemption this offseason, as the team has mostly stayed to 90 players on the roster. So, it\u2019s certainly possible the Steelers have a player in mind to add with Ward\u2019s release.<\/p>\n<p>Without Ward, the Steelers have seven running backs remaining on their roster.\u00a0Jaylen Warren\u00a0and rookie\u00a0Kaleb Johnson\u00a0are expected to have the most carries while veterans\u00a0Kenneth Gainwell\u00a0and\u00a0Cordarrelle Patterson could have small offensive roles as well.<\/p>\n<p>The Steelers also have running backs\u00a0Trey Sermon,\u00a0Evan Hull, and\u00a0Max Hurleman\u00a0on their offseason roster.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Getty Head coach Mike Tomlin and the Pittsburgh Steelers announced releasing veteran running back Jonathan Ward on Thursday. The\u00a0Pittsburgh Steelers\u00a0are moving on from running back\u00a0Jonathan Ward, again&#8230;. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":57259,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-57258","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nfl"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>BREAKING: Steelers Clear Roster Spot With Veteran RB Release.. - 24\/7 News America<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=57258\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"BREAKING: Steelers Clear Roster Spot With Veteran RB Release.. - 24\/7 News America\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Getty Head coach Mike Tomlin and the Pittsburgh Steelers announced releasing veteran running back Jonathan Ward on Thursday. 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