By: G.Stryker, Twitter @SNStryker and Instagram @SNStryker
SteelerNation.com
Cap Class is a series where I break down the cap to find the amounts associated with the roster, dead money, or future cost of players. Dollar amounts and cap cost may not be exciting, but they can be interesting when you look inside the numbers. I will place explanations inside of {braces}, so if you know how those numbers are found, you can skip over them. So grab your pencils and calculators, and let’s do some math!
Want to know why the Pittsburgh Steelers haven’t signed Cameron Heyward to a new contract? They have no idea how to structure it to make it work. The Steelers are currently sitting just under $190M with the projected cap floor to be $175M. We know the cap cannot drop below that $175M mark, but hopefully it increases a bit with a successful season (fingers crossed).
So the Steelers have to figure out how to squeeze blood from a stone because they need to sign 13 more players (11 counting against the cap) and cover dead money charges to fit under next year’s cap. The contract amounts for the bottom 11 players on the current Steelers’ roster are about $8.5M. This number would be added to the $190M as an estimation, to give the Steelers a projected cap of $198.5M and they potentially need to be under $175M. That’s $23M needed to be freed up under the cap.
This is why it is so hard to get Heyward signed to a contract, because there is no money for it. Worst news is there is still very little room to restructure contracts to get that far under. Cutting Ben Roethlisberger would free up $19M, David DeCastro $8.75M, Joe Haden $7M, Maurkice Pouncey $8M, Vince Williams $4M, Eric Ebron $6M, Vance McDonald $5.2, and TJ Watt $10M, but who in their right mind would ever think to cut Watt?
So Steeler fans, I’m sorry to have to say it, but we have to become comfortable with the fact that the Steelers may sign ZERO of their priority free agents next year. So these players, more than likely, will not be returning next year: Bud Dupree, Cameron Hayward, JuJu Smith-Schuster, James Conner, Vance McDonald, Alejandro Villanueva, Matt Feiler, Mike Hilton, Cameron Sutton, Tyson Alualu, Zach Banner, Jordan Berry, Dan McCullers, Chris Wormley, and Ryan Switzer.
I’ve heard the term ‘cap hell’ thrown around before, but this is an absolute cap nightmare, and it was caused by an unforeseen pandemic. The Steelers structure their contracts to appreciate over time and also take into account the cap rising. If the 2021 cap rose to $200+M as expected, the Steelers would have had little trouble resigning Heyward to a multi-year deal so he could retire as a Pittsburgh Steeler. Now, thanks to COVID-19, it’s going to take a miracle for the salary cap czar Omar Khan, to keep ANY of their own priority free agents next year.
How will the Steelers make room to sign players? Who would you cut? Who would you keep? Sound off below to let us know your thoughts.
#SteelerNation
