What Elandon Roberts Brings Back to Pittsburgh, and Why It Likely Ends Malik Harrison's Time as a Steeler

Pittsburgh's linebacker room did not need another body. It needed a specific skill set, and that is exactly what the Steelers went out and re-acquired this week. The team agreed to a one-year deal with Elandon Roberts, reuniting him with the organization he played for in 2023 and 2024 and, more importantly, with new defensive coordinator Patrick Graham, who coached him in Las Vegas last season. The move is being read around the building as a clean, low-cost addition. It should also be read as the clearest signal yet that Malik Harrison's second stint in Pittsburgh is winding down.

Steelers LB Elandon Roberts. Courtesy of Yahoo Sports

What Elandon Roberts Actually Brings

Roberts is not a name being added for depth-chart optics. He is a proven, physical run-defender who started 16 of 17 games for the Raiders in 2025, finishing with 90 tackles, six for loss, a forced fumble, and a pass defense. That followed the first Pittsburgh tenure in which he totaled 147 tackles, 15 tackles for loss, and 3.5 sacks across two seasons, starting 29 of 33 games he appeared in. He topped 100 tackles in 2023 alone. At 32 and entering his 11th NFL season, Roberts is not being brought in to develop. He is being brought in to do, immediately, what he has already shown he can do at a high level for a decade: play downhill, take on blockers in the run game, and set an edge against the pull-and-power concepts that define physical rushing attacks.

The Graham connection matters as much as the tape. Roberts spent 2025 playing for Graham in Las Vegas, meaning he arrives already fluent in the exact scheme language Pittsburgh's new coordinator is installing this offseason. For a first-year coordinator trying to get a veteran room speaking the same defensive dialect quickly, a linebacker who already knows the calls, checks, and run fits is a meaningfully faster plug-in than a rookie or a free agent learning the system from scratch.

A Room That Was Already Crowded

Roberts is not walking into an open competition so much as a very full one. Patrick Queen and Payton Wilson are Pittsburgh's clear starters at inside linebackers, with Wilson coming off a team-leading 126-tackle season. Cole Holcomb, re-signed to a two-year deal this offseason, adds a proven run-stuffer of his own when healthy, and second-year linebacker Carson Bruener has already pushed his way into the top four on Pittsburgh's initial training camp depth chart. Roberts now gives the Steelers a fifth inside linebacker with legitimate starting-caliber experience, which is an unusual amount of proven depth at one position group heading into final roster cuts.

That depth is the whole point, and it is also the problem for Harrison. Even before Roberts signed, Harrison had already been pushed to the back of the room. Pittsburgh's initial 2026 depth chart listed him behind Queen, Wilson, and Holcomb, and a subsequent preseason depth chart slid him to the third team alongside Bruener ahead of him on the pecking order. Beat reporters covering camp were already flagging Harrison as a likely cut candidate weeks before Roberts ever entered the picture.

The Financial Reality Working Against Harrison

Roster math is rarely just about talent, and Harrison's situation is a clear example of where money and depth intersect. Harrison signed a two-year, $10 million deal with Pittsburgh last offseason, and he is set to earn a non-guaranteed $4.75 million base salary in 2026, a cap hit reported to approach $6.8 million. That is a significant number for a player who, at best, projects as a rotational run-defender and special-teamer rather than a full-time starter. Roberts, by contrast, is coming in on a one-year deal that is almost certain to carry a far smaller cap number, giving Pittsburgh a cheaper, equally physical run-stopper who also happens to already know Graham's defense. When a front office can replace a similar skill set at a fraction of the cost, the more expensive, redundant piece becomes the obvious subtraction.

It is worth being fair to Harrison here. He is a respected veteran who has never been a liability on the field, and his special-teams value has real currency in roster construction. But reliability without a clear role is a difficult thing to keep paying for, and Pittsburgh now has four other inside linebackers, Queen, Wilson, Holcomb, and Roberts, plus Bruener, who all offer either a clearer role or a better cost-to-production ratio than Harrison currently does.

Why This Is Roberts, Not Just Another Body

The specific fit matters here, too. Harrison and Roberts are not identical players, but they occupy a similar lane: physical, downhill linebackers best deployed against the run rather than in space. Pittsburgh does not need two players competing for the same narrow role at the bottom of the depth chart, and Roberts wins that internal comparison easily on both proven production and scheme familiarity. Graham already knows exactly how to deploy him, which is not something that can be said yet for Harrison under a brand-new coaching staff.

The Verdict

Elandon Roberts' return is a straightforward, sensible addition for Pittsburgh: a proven, physical linebacker who already speaks Patrick Graham's defensive language, signed on a cheap, short-term deal to add experienced depth behind two clear starters. The cost of that addition, however, is almost certainly Malik Harrison's roster spot. Harrison was already sliding down the depth chart before this move, and his $4.75 million non-guaranteed salary makes him an easy subtraction once Pittsburgh has a cheaper player who offers a similar skill set and a tighter scheme fit. Barring an unexpected injury elsewhere in the room during camp, Roberts' signing does not just add competition to Pittsburgh's linebacker group. It effectively writes the final chapter on Harrison's second stint with the Steelers.