by Bo Marchionte
@bomarchionte | College2Pro.com
Published August 29, 2026, 12:29 PM
Steelers Preseason Finale Clouds Future Spots at Inside Linebacker
This weekend, NFL teams must trim their rosters to 53 players by 6 p.m. ET on August 30.
For hundreds of players, those decisions will determine whether their careers continue on their current roster, in another city, or perhaps even in the National Football League.
During training camp, the Steelers signed veteran Elandon Roberts, creating an immediate logjam at inside linebacker.
That brings us to Pittsburgh’s preseason finale in Buffalo.
Patrick Queen, a sure-fire fixture at the position, didn’t travel with the team. It was essentially an off night for a veteran whose roster status requires no discussion.
Payton Wilson made the trip but was a sideline piece, not dressing for the game.
That left Carson Bruener, Cole Holcomb and Roberts to handle the work.
Here is where things get interesting.
The word on the street is Pittsburgh is keeping four quarterbacks. Under that scenario, the math becomes considerably tighter when constructing the final 53-man roster. Keeping five inside linebackers suddenly feels like a luxury.
And then something that didn’t go unnoticed came in the visitors’ press box in Buffalo.
Both Holcomb and Roberts were still playing during the final snaps of the preseason finale.
It wasn’t a non-topic among the media watching upstairs.
Why were two established NFL veteran players with extensive starting experience still on the field that late in the final preseason game?
Maybe it means nothing. Maybe Pittsburgh simply wanted the available bodies to finish the game.
But this close to cutdown day, personnel usage becomes information.
Queen isn’t playing.
Wilson isn’t playing.
Meanwhile, Roberts and Holcomb are finishing the fourth quarter.
Bruener also has youth, special-teams value and a strong preseason working in his favor. That matters when the bottom of a 53-man roster is being assembled, because those final spots aren’t decided solely by who is the better traditional linebacker. They’re decided by who can provide the most value on Sundays.
If Pittsburgh indeed carries four quarterbacks, every additional roster spot has to come from somewhere.
That makes five inside linebackers increasingly difficult to justify.
Which one goes?
That’s the part that remains completely unclear.
And after what unfolded during the final minutes in Buffalo, the Steelers may have given us something worth thinking about without giving us the answer.
Pittsburgh Steelers Inside Linebackers
- Patrick Queen: 27 years old, 2020 First Round Pick
- Payton Wilson: 26 years old, 2024 Third Round Pick
- Cole Holcomb: 30 years old, 2019 Fifth Round Pick
- Carson Bruner: 25 years old, 2025 Seventh Round Pick
- Elandon Roberts: 32 years old, 2016 Sixth Round Pick
Photo Credit Frank Hyatt/College2Pro.com
