The Pittsburgh Steelers have waived rookie kicker Laith Marjan, the team announced on Sunday. Assuming he goes unclaimed, he will become a free agent.
Marjan was waived after signing with the Steelers as an undrafted free agent. He appeared in both preseason games, making all three extra points in the opener against the Green Bay Packers. He served as Pittsburgh’s kicker for all of Friday night’s game against the New York Jets. He missed his lone field goal attempt, wide left from 44 yards out.
He was unable to follow the footsteps of past Steelers backup kickers who impressed in the spring like Matthew Wright and Ben Sauls. Both went on to kick in regular season action for other teams while Wright had second and third stints in Pittsburgh when Boswell got hurt.
Marjan was a UDFA out of Kansas. He previously played at South Alabama and East Carolina. He was a semifinalist for the Lou Groza Award, given to college football’s best kicker, in 2024 and 2025 but did not win either year. His 2024 season was his best and his 2025 campaign got off to an excellent start before faltering towards the end.
In college, he made 30-of-34 field goals and 82-of-84 extra point attempts.
Training camp reps were infrequent for Marjan and he showed a lack of leg strength, once missing short from 51 yards, and consistency. He won our training camp award for “Most Well Rested” due to his time spent watching Chris Boswell kick instead.
Pittsburgh may opt to sign a kicker for the preseason finale against the Buffalo Bills this Thursday to prevent Boswell from handling all kicking duties. Or the team could use its now-vacant roster spot at another position.
Signed after the draft to a $15,000 signing bonus, waiving Marjan will incur a $5,000 dead money salary cap hit this year and a $10,000 one in 2027.
Marjan will try to catch on with another team for the final week of the preseason. More likely, he’ll be part of the tryout circuit throughout the regular season.