Steelers' Agree To New Contract Terms With Allen Robinson For 2023 And 2024

After trading for Allen Robinson and completing his physical, Omar Khan and the Pittsburgh Steelers reworked Robinson's contract, giving the team more cap space in both 2023 and 2024. Ian Rapaport reported the new details of the deal. $3.835 million of Robinson's base salary for 2023 was converted into a signing bonus, leading to a $1.165 million base salary for 2023. For 2024, the base salary was just lowered entirely, going from $15 million to $10 million. 

What Does The Restructure Mean In Salary Cap Terms?

While the cap hit goes down for both years, the signing bonus will be prorated into the cap space, meaning that $1,917,500 will be added to the base salary to equal the cap number. For 2023, with the base number being $1.165 million, the official cap number for 2023 will be $3,082,500. That number is almost $2 million less than the original cap hit from when he was originally traded when he carried a $5 million cap hit.

In 2024, that near-$2 million prorations will be added to the new $10 million base salary, creating an $11,917,500 cap hit. While that does lower 2024's cap hit by almost $3 million, there will also be a dead cap if he's cut in the 2024 offseason. If he isn't cut, he will also carry a $750,000 roster bonus, which would be added to the cap hit. 

Why Would The Steelers Restructure Robinson's Cap Hit Like This?

Before the Steelers made the restructure, the team's remaining cap space was $5,553,798. The restructuring will bring the cap space up to roughly $7.5 million. This was likely done to help be able to afford the players they draft. With the Chase Claypool trade giving the Steelers pick 32, that would be an extra $1-2 million of cap space going to a draft pick. With the restructuring, the Steelers can now pay all their draft picks and undrafted free agents more comfortably. 

While this kind of move normally indicates a potential signing or trade being made, the Steelers do not have the cap space for this. If they were to make another move, it would likely result in TJ Watt getting restructured instead of Robinson. Watt would create much more cap space with a reworked contract, as opposed to Robinson getting a William Jackson III-type reworked deal. 

There is now a chance that he does not get cut during the 2024 offseason. Before the restructure, cutting him would save $15 million for the cap with no dead cap at all. Now, cutting him would result in nearly a $2 million cap hit with only $8 million in cap savings. 

Now, there's still a very good chance that Robinson gets cut, especially if he does not play well, but if he does go back to his Chicago Bears or Jacksonville Jaguars form or close to it, the Steelers could end up keeping him as veteran depth, especially with Diontae Johnson being more and more involved in trade rumors. 

What do you think about the Steelers reworking Allen Robinson's contract and creating more cap space? Let us know in the comments below.

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