Steelers A to Z: Amid crowded tackle group, Dylan Cook trying to retain roster spot
Editor’s note: From now until the first practice of training camp at Saint Vincent College, TribLive is running through the Pittsburgh Steelers’ 90-man roster, looking at each player and assessing his outlook for the 2024 season. The breakdown will run in alphabetical order with at least two players each day between June 14 and July 25. Contract data courtesy spotrac.com.
OT Dylan Cook
Experience/age: No NFL experience/26 years old
Contract status: $915,000 cap hit if he makes the team in 2024
The past: Signed in May 2023 after he was cut by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Cook performed well enough in training camp and the preseason to earn a spot on the Steelers’ 53-man roster.
Cook, though, did not see any playing time as a rookie. He dressed for just two games and didn’t log a snap. He was inactive for the other 15 regular-season games.
Cook, who measures 6-foot-6, 308 pounds, is the rare athlete who started his collegiate career as a quarterback before bulking up and transitioning to the offensive line. He transferred from NAIA school Montana State-Northern Lights to Montana and started 23 games at right tackle.
Cook signed with Tampa Bay as an undrafted free agent in 2022 and spent that season on the Bucs practice squad.
2024 outlook: With a full offseason in the organization, Cook is trying to earn a roster spot for the second year in a row. The Steelers thought enough of Cook to keep him around the entire 2023 season as the final offensive lineman on the 53-man roster.
Cook faces several challenges to retaining his spot. The Steelers drafted Troy Fautanu in the first round and have used him as a right tackle behind starter Broderick Jones. Unless the Steelers flip Jones back to the left side, Cook has two first-round picks ahead of him on the depth chart at right tackle.
Factor in the Steelers drafting two interior offensive linemen and the numbers may be working against Cook. Still, he did enough last summer to earn a roster spot and is aware of the obstacles in front of him.
Joe Rutter is a TribLive reporter who has covered the Pittsburgh Steelers since the 2016 season. A graduate of Greensburg Salem High School and Point Park, he is in his fifth decade covering sports for the Trib. He can be reached at jrutter@triblive.com.
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