2024 Steelers Exit Interviews: DeMarvin Leal and Dean Lowry

The Pittsburgh Steelers 2024 NFL season has come to a close. Because the Steelers are among the 31 teams who did not finish fulfilling their ultimate goal, they are in the process of wrapping up their season and moving forward into 2025.

Since the Steelers conduct exit interviews with all their players, and the fact I have done these articles in the past, we thought we would do them yet again here at Steel Curtain Network. By outlining two players each day, we will be able to look at their season in retrospect as well as looking toward the future. Since Coach Tomlin has previously stated he starts his interviews with rookies and those heading into free agency, we will attempt to do the same to some degree. To start, we will pair the most recent draftees with another player at the same position (if possible) as we work through this process to eventually cover the entire Steelers roster.

Next up are defensive lineman DeMarvin Leal and Dean Lowry.

DeMarvin Leal

Position: Defensive End
Years with the Steelers: 3
Years in the NFL: 3
Contract Status: Signed through 2025
Contract Details: $1,650,376 salary cap hit for 2025. Would cost the Steelers $238,072 in dead money if released and save $1,412,304.
Games played in 2024: 5 regular season
Games started in 2024: 0 regular season
Snaps (regular season): 51 (defense), 26 (special teams)
PFF score: 68.3 (DNQ for ranking)
Notable stats: Leal had four tackles and one quarterback hit.

Notes: Taking on a more hybrid role as depth that both outside linebacker and defensive line, Steelers fans often forget about DeMarvin Leal after he was injured in Week 5 and lost for the season. It’s not that Leal was playing poorly when he was injured, but he was doing a solid job of filling in as depth in two position groups. Would the Steelers like him to continue in that role in the final year of his contract or find a more definitive position? I don’t see why they wouldn’t want to utilize the versatility. But a neck injury can be tricky, so Leal is unlikely to be a definitive answer for questions that the Steelers have on their defense.

Dean Lowry

Position: Defensive Tackle
Years with the Steelers: 1
Years in the NFL: 9
Contract Status: Signed through 2025
Contract Details: $3,125,000 salary cap hit for 2025. Would cost the Steelers $625,000 in dead money if released and save $2.5 million.
Games played in 2024: 12 regular season
Games started in 2024: 1 regular season
Snaps (regular season): 159 (defense), 31 (special teams)
PFF score: 34.3 (DNQ for ranking)
Notable stats: Lowry had five tackles, 1.0 sacks, and one pass defensed.

Notes: Coming to the Steelers after missing most of 2023 due to injury and not available when the Steelers hit training camp, Dean Lowry was that guy who often was on the inactive list when all other players were available. Getting a start one week for Larry Ogunjobi and then inactive two weeks later, this summarizes Lowry’s season. As a player this far down the depth chart, is Lowry worth the $2.5 million the Steelers would save by moving on? Probably not. The bigger question is if Lowery is worth bringing to camp and sticking around that long to see if he could get more into his form before the injury in 2023 or if he is allowed to seek employment elsewhere at the start of the league year.

Make sure you check back each day for another set of exit interviews. If you have missed any of the previous articles, they are listed here:

Troy Fautanu & Broderick Jones
Zach Frazier & Ryan McCollum
Roman Wilson & Van Jefferson
Payton Wilson & Patrick Queen
Mason McCormick & James Daniels
Logan Lee & Isaiahh Loudermilk
Ryan Watts & Damontae Kazee
Joey Porter Jr. & James Pierre
Keeanu Benton & Montravius Adams
Darnell Washington & Pat Freiermuth
Nick Herbig & Jeremiah Moon
Cory Trice Jr. & Donte Jackson
Spencer Anderson & Calvin Anderson
Larry Ogunjobi & Preston Smith
Beanie Bishop Jr. & Cameron Sutton
George Pickens & Mike Williams