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, between June 16 and July 26. Contract data courtesy spotrac.com.

ILB NICK KWIATKOSKI

Experience: 8th season

Contract status: Presumed to be on a non-guaranteed one-year deal for league-minimum veteran salary for 2023

2023 outlook: It’s almost overkill in terms of the message Steelers management has sent loud and clear – over and over and over again – since the end of last season: They were not happy with the play of the inside linebackers group.

So, co-starters Devin Bush and Robert Spillane and backup Marcus Allen were allowed to leave via unrestricted free agency. Another starter, veteran Myles Jack, was released. Signed were two veterans with starting pedigree (Cole Holcomb and Elandon Roberts) and another (Tanner Muse) who helps fill out the position room as a hybrid safety and special-teams standout. The only man left standing from last season when mandatory minicamp began (aside from practice-squader Chapelle Russell) was second-year pro Mark Robinson.

But general manager Omar Khan & Co. weren’t done adding bodies to the ILB room yet. Veterans Kwiatkoski and Jermaine Carter were brought in for those three spring-ending practices on a tryout basis.

The Steelers must have liked enough of what they saw of Kwiatkoski that they signed him upon the conclusion of minicamp. An alumnus of Bethel Park and West Virginia University, Kwiatkoski is embarking on his eighth NFL season. Now 30 years old, his days as a starter are behind him — Kwiatkoski did not play a defensive snap over 12 games for the Atlanta Falcons last season — but Kwiatkoski could move into a special-teams role that the Steelers need after the departures of veteran special-teams types such as Derek Watt, Benny Snell, Allen and Jamir Jones.

Kwiatkoski most recently played a significant role on defense in 2020 for the Las Vegas Raiders. While he could fill a depth role there, if he makes his hometown team for an eighth NFL season it will be primarily because he’s convinced special teams coordinator he can be trusted and reliable in duties such as covering punts and kickoffs.

He went to high school about 10 miles down Route 19 from Pittsburgh and played in college another 80-minute drive or so to the south.

But it took until just days after his 30th birthday for Nick Kwiatkoski to suit up for the Steelers. https://t.co/bhQSYye6x0

— Tribune-Review Sports (@TribSports) June 14, 2023

RB ANTHONY MCFARLAND JR.

Experience: 14 games for the Steelers the past 3 seasons

Contract status: $940,000 cap hit in if he makes the team in 2023

2023 outlook: Perhaps the greatest compliment paid to McFarland in regards to his tenure with the Steelers is that they keep holding on to him. Despite just 11 touches over 48 snaps (40 on offense) in three regular-season games played since the end of the 2020 season, the Steelers have kept McFarland around, again and again. That might sound like faint praise — and it is — but it shows the type of untapped potential the Steelers still see in a player who ran a 4.4 in the 40-yard dash and had runs of 81, 75 and 52 yards during a game in college for Maryland against Ohio State.

For a variety of reasons, McFarland’s game-breaking ability hasn’t shown at the NFL level. After having a niche role (and not producing much with it) as a rookie fourth-round pick in 2020, McFarland appeared to be having a strong training camp for Year 2 before an MCL tear in a knee thwarted that momentum. He’s been a fringe roster player since (spending all of last season on the practice squad), making an impact (eight touches, 41 yards) only while Najee Harris and Jaylen Warren were injured during a game against the Indianapolis Colts last season.

Since McFarland was drafted, the Steelers added Harris and Warren, second-year pro Jason Huntley and undrafted rookies Alfonzo Graham and Darius Hagans. McFarland, with a strong camp, still could carve out a role in the offense behind Harris and Warren. But this preseason might be his last shot — especially if Harris and Warren stay healthy, and/or if one of the rookies shows he’s a hidden gem.

Hey, Steelers Nation, get the latest news about the Pittsburgh Steelers here.

---

Copyright ©2025— Trib Total Media, LLC (TribLIVE.com)

---