Steelers 2-a-days: Hakeem Butler a practice standout, Jordan Byrd an intriguing return option

Editor’s note: From the end of minicamp through the day the team reports to training camp at Saint Vincent College, the Trib will be running through the Pittsburgh Steelers’ 90-man roster, assessing each player’s outlook for the 2023 season. The breakdown will go through the roster in mostly alphabetical order, (at least) two per day, from June 16-July 26. Contract data courtesy spotrac.com.

WR HAKEEM BUTLER

Experience: 2 NFL games in 2020, this past spring in the XFL

Contract status: $870,000 cap hit in 2023 on a one-year deal

2023 outlook: Listed at 6-foot-5, Hakeem Butler looks even bigger than that on the practice fields of the UPMC Rooney Sports Complex this spring. He’s been skying for balls, making catches over even tall defensive backs and wowing the likes of Mike Tomlin with his playmaking during organized team activities and minicamp.

But can that translate to the field once the games that matter start? So far, over a not-small sample size, it definitively has not for Butler. A fourth-round pick in 2019, Butler has been cut four times by three NFL teams in addition to being let go by a pair of Canadian Football League teams. His NFL regular-season experience on offense? One snap.

And even that lone time on the field for a play on offense – during a game while playing for the Philadelphia Eagles against the New York Giants in Week 7 of 2020 – was when the Eagles were giving him a trial at tight end.

In other words, Butler can look like a star in practice and when evaluating his measurables. He certainly has looked the part over his six weeks with the Steelers, and it’s happened his whole pro career. But at age 27, he’s yet to show it on the field during a pro game aside from a strong spring for the XFL’s St. Louis Battlehawks. So it would be foolish to get too caught up in the Butler hype in May and June. Make him show it at least during a preseason game in August or when the games mean something in September.

New Steelers WR Hakeem Butler, last of the XFL pic.twitter.com/2jISVMjabm

— Chris Adamski (@C_AdamskiTrib) May 23, 2023

WR JORDAN BYRD

Experience: Rookie

Contract status: $752,500 cap hit in 2023 on start of 3-year deal

2023 outlook: Byrd was a running back at San Diego State, but the Steelers are listing him as a wide receiver. No matter. Whatever he’s called for his play on offense, odds are that if Byrd is to make any impact, it will probably be in the return game.

Signed as an undrafted free agent, Byrd (5-9, 170) was a three-time all-Mountain West Conference honoree as a return man – in 2021, thus awarded both for kickoff and punt return work. He had four touchdowns off returns over his final three college seasons (three on kickoffs, one on a punt).

The Steelers under Mike Tomlin seemingly always long after elite return men, typically with less-than-stellar results. But the decision to allow Steven Sims to leave means there is no incumbent returner — although Gunner Olszewski began last season handling those duties.

Byrd scored 13 touchdowns from scrimmage in college, but it’s highly unlikely he makes an impact on offense for the Steelers. That won’t matter, though, if he can convince Tomlin and special teams coordinator Danny Smith that he’s their most dynamic option as a returner. The odds aren’t necessarily in Byrd’s favor to pull that off — but it’s certainly not out of the question, either.

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