Bradyn Swinson’s brief stay in Pittsburgh ended Tuesday, when the Steelers released the former Oregon Ducks linebacker from the practice squad without ever calling him up.
The move came as Pittsburgh signed cornerback Terell Smith to the active roster and linebacker K.J. Henry to the practice squad, according to the team.
Swinson, 24, had been with the Steelers since Sept. 1, two days after the New England Patriots cut him at the end of training camp. Five weeks later, he is a free agent again.
For Oregon fans, the transaction is another reminder of a prospect who never quite broke through in Eugene and then found his footing elsewhere.
Swinson arrived in the 2020 class as a three-star edge from Chapel Hill High in Douglasville, Georgia, choosing Mario Cristobal’s Ducks over Arizona State, Florida State, Missouri and North Carolina. The length was obvious. The production was not.
In a pandemic-shortened freshman year he played six or seven games and finished with three tackles. The flash came in 2021, when he started the Week 2 upset of Ohio State in Columbus and posted five tackles, a sack and a pass breakup, earning Pac-12 defensive lineman of the week.
He finished that season with 24 tackles, four tackles for loss and three sacks.
In 2022, the snaps stayed limited: eight tackles and 1.5 tackles for loss in 12 games, no sacks. Across three seasons in Eugene he totaled 35 tackles, 5.5 tackles for loss and three sacks in 29 games.
He entered the transfer portal after that season and landed at LSU. The breakout the Ducks never saw arrived in Baton Rouge.
As a full-time starter in 2024, Swinson led the Tigers with 13 tackles for loss and 8.5 sacks, added 58 or 59 tackles, and earned second-team All-SEC honors. Over two seasons at LSU he recorded 10.5 of his 13.5 career sacks.
The Patriots took him in the fifth round of the 2025 draft, No. 146 overall. He was cut at the end of his rookie camp, spent time on New England’s practice squad, and was promoted in November.
He appeared in three games, including the AFC Championship, and finished with one tackle. New England released him again on Aug. 30, 2026.
Pittsburgh gave the 6-foot-4, 255-pound edge a developmental roster spot behind a deeper group of rushers. He never dressed for a game. Tuesday’s cut is his second release in six weeks.
The tools that showed up against Ohio State in 2021, and the production that arrived two years later in the SEC, are still on the market.
