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.

WR ALLEN ROBINSON

Experience: 10th season

Contract status: $3.08 million cap hit in 2023, signed through 2024 at a significant cap hit

2023 outlook: Robinson long was regarded as one of the NFL’s more underrated receivers. The logic was that the primary quarterbacks he had to work with had been Blake Bortles and Mitch Trubisky. So when Robinson signed a $46.5 million, three-year contract with the reigning Super Bowl champions last spring, big things were expected.

That never materialized with the Los Angeles Rams, whose quarterback Matthew Stafford suffered through a season of injury and ineffectiveness. Robinson dealt with his own injury issues during a season that ended up with him catching 33 passes for 339 yards in 10 games. So when the Rams this offseason evaluated their tight salary-cap situation in relation to the guaranteed money it owed Robinson, they decided it best to cut their losses. So the Rams decided to eat money owed to Robinson, and they ultimately deal him to the Steelers for a mere swap of seventh-round picks.

For the Steelers, the near-nonexistent compensation and reasonable cap hit was well worth it to see if Robinson can serve as a mere WR3 in the offense behind Diontae Johnson and George Pickens. Robinson was still recovering from November foot surgery early during spring practices, but when he repped, it was most often out of the slot. That is where there is the greatest immediate need for the Steelers. Regardless of where he lines up, though, Robinson (if healthy) at worst should serve as a reliable veteran possession receiver.

New Steelers receiver Allen Robinson is willing to use the six-week lag between minicamp and training camp to ensure that chemistry develops with quarterback Kenny Pickett. https://t.co/ztm77PSQ1Q

— Tribune-Review Sports (@TribSports) June 18, 2023

S KENNY ROBINSON

Experience: 19 NFL regular-season games over the 2020 and 2021 seasons

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

2023 outlook: Growing up in Wilkinsburg, Robinson bounced around to play high school ball from Central Catholic to University Prep to Imani Christian before a two-year college career at West Virginia. Though Robinson was all-Big 12 as a sophomore, he was expelled from the school after he was caught cheating on academics. Robinson admitted his mistake and played in the XFL for its abbreviated 2020 season until he was NFL-draft eligible.

A fifth-round pick of the Carolina Panthers in 2020, Robinson played virtually exclusively on special teams as a rookie before gaining a part-time role as (mostly) a free safety in 2021. He was on and off the Panthers’ practice squad last season, not appearing in any regular-season games.

Robinson is known for his ball skills, a trait the Steelers have always been drawn to. But the Steelers have three safeties they intend to rely on in Minkah Fitzpatrick, Damontae Kazee and Keanu Neal, with Miles Killebrew a special-teams captain. From there, Robinson is competing with Tre Norwood and Elijah Riley for spots on the practice squad and/or (maybe) the active roster.

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