Former Ohio State standout Malik Harrison is looking for a new NFL home after the Pittsburgh Steelers released the linebacker on Sunday in a move that creates $4.75 million in salary cap room.
ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler reported the decision with this update: “Steelers releasing LB Malik Harrison, per source. He was owed $4.75M this year.”
For Buckeyes fans who followed Harrison’s rise from Columbus high school star to Big Ten standout, the news marks another chapter in a professional career that has stretched six seasons without quite matching the production he showed in scarlet and gray.
Harrison arrived at Ohio State as a local product from Walnut Ridge High School and developed into a key piece of the Buckeyes’ defense. Over four seasons he played in 52 games and started 28 of them, finishing with 205 total tackles, 29 tackles for loss and 10 sacks.
His junior year in 2018 saw him tie for the team lead with 81 tackles and earn honorable mention All-Big Ten honors. As a senior in 2019 he again led Ohio State in tackles with 75 stops, added a career-best 16.5 tackles for loss and 4.5 sacks, and earned first-team All-Big Ten recognition from the coaches.
Those numbers helped the Baltimore Ravens select him in the third round of the 2020 draft with the 98th overall pick. Harrison spent his first five NFL seasons in Baltimore before signing a two-year, $10 million deal with the Steelers in March 2025.
In his lone season with Pittsburgh he appeared in 11 games and made nine starts, recording 41 combined tackles including 25 solo stops and two tackles for loss. A knee injury limited him early, and while he returned to the starting lineup the overall impact never fully lived up to the free-agent expectations.
Across his entire NFL career Harrison has now played 87 regular-season games with 43 starts. He owns 215 total tackles, two sacks and one pass deflection. His best single-season tackle total remains the 54 he posted with the Ravens in 2024.
This offseason the Steelers re-signed Cole Holcomb and later added Elandon Roberts during the preseason, creating a deeper linebacker room that ultimately left Harrison on the outside. He did not play in the team’s final two exhibition games, a sign to many that a release was coming.
The NFL salary cap sits at $301.2 million for 2026, up $22 million from the year before. Teams must get under the limit when they trim to 53 players, and Pittsburgh’s decision on Harrison helps clear space at a critical time.
Buckeyes followers who watched Harrison dominate against the run in the Big Ten may note that his professional role has often been more rotational and special-teams oriented. Still, at 6-foot-3 and roughly 250 pounds, the 28-year-old continues to offer size and experience that could attract interest from other clubs seeking depth.
Harrison’s path from Walnut Ridge to Ohio Stadium to the NFL has been steady rather than spectacular. He helped Ohio State claim consecutive outright Big Ten titles during his later college years and contributed on special teams early in Baltimore.
With the Steelers moving on, the next stop remains unknown. Fans of the Buckeyes will likely keep an eye on where the former first-team All-Big Ten linebacker lands and whether a fresh opportunity can unlock more of the production he showed in college.
The release closes a one-year stay in Pittsburgh that never fully took off, yet Harrison’s body of work at Ohio State remains a high point that many in Columbus still remember fondly.
At this stage of his career any new team would be gaining a veteran with proven toughness against the run and a solid college pedigree.
