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The biggest news generated by the Pittsburgh Steelers on roster cut-down day wasn’t a cut. We found out Sunday that DeShon Elliott is going on the Reserved/Injured list. The starting safety was given a designation to return. But this means he’ll still be sidelined for at least the first four weeks of the regular season. That includes the opener against the Atlanta Falcons, a contest against the reigning AFC champion New England Patriots, and two AFC North battles against Cleveland and Cincinnati. Elliott’s last regular-season game was Oct. 26 against Green Bay. After suffering a knee injury that week, he saw action in Week 2 of the preseason this summer against the New York Jets. But after his participation, Mike McCarthy said Elliott was “feeling it” a bit. He practiced once more on Aug. 25 but has now been put on ice until Oct. 11 against Indianapolis at the earliest. In this week’s “Madden Monday” podcast, Mark Madden of TribLive and 105.9 The X says that’s a costly blow to the Steelers’ secondary to open 2026, especially since Joey Porter Jr. has yet to practice in the new defense because of a contract dispute. “That’s going to hurt them,” Madden said of the defensive backfield. “Three words that come to mind there: ‘Not. Good. Enough.’ Tell me who their starting secondary is right now, assuming Porter doesn’t play Week 1.” The answer to that query is: Jamel Dean and Asante Samuel at cornerback. Jaquan Brisker and either rookie seventh-round pick Robert Spears-Jennings or former Cleveland Browns Rayshawn Jenkins at safety — plus Jalen Ramsey floating between both positions and the slot. Brandin Echols and rookie Daylen Everette would be in reserve at CB. “That’s crap,” Madden replied. “Joey, if you’re listening, hold out. The leverage just swung even further in your favor.” Indeed. Now Porter Jr. has to decide what to do. Now that he has been removed from the “physically unable to perform (PUP)” list, if Porter doesn’t start practicing or refuses to play Sept. 13 against Atlanta, that’s a full-fledged holdout. No more mystery back ailments to muddy the waters, unless Porter and his agent try to argue that the Steelers just removed an injured player from PUP. “Why is this a stare-down? Why are the Steelers doing this?” Madden asked. “Why did they give the backup edge (Nick Herbig) $25 million? That is a big part of this.” I bet that the bloated NFL cornerback market has played a role in Porter’s thinking as well. Also, during the podcast, Madden and I discuss the final call to keep four quarterbacks, the decision to retain Eli Heidenreich, the Pirates, English soccer and more.