By Tuesday at 4 PM/EST, the Pittsburgh Steelers and the rest of the NFL must trim their rosters down to a 53-man group. That group certainly can change over the coming days, but Pittsburgh’s task today is to set the initial group of 53. They’ll accomplish that either by releasing players or placing them on injured reserve.
Starting last year, NFL rules allowed two players to pass directly to injured reserve with a designation to return later this season, eligible to return after four weeks. Any additional players who land on injured reserve with the eligibility to return must be carried on the team’s initial 53-man roster for at least one day.