The Pittsburgh Steelers have always been an organization that is known for managing their financial situation very well. One of the main reasons for that is first-year general manager, Omar Khan. The standard operating room for the team heading into a season is anything over $5 million in cap space and entering Wednesday morning, Pittsburgh had roughly $2 million, according to Over The Cap. That is set to change after it was reported that T.J. Watt restructured his contract in order to give some wiggle room entering the 2022 season. Khan is, however, one restructure away from turning some heads and garnering a little bit of interest in the moves he is making.
Pittsburgh Steelers first-year general manager, Omar Khan. | George Gojkovich / Getty Images
The immediate assumption is Khan may be planning to extend Cameron Sutton before the season starts. However, most extensions see a player's cap number drop in the first year, rather than go up. Regardless, Sutton is still someone to keep an eye on.
Last season the Steelers made a late roster move with the addition of Ahkello Witherspoon via trade on September 3. Witherspoon of course was acquired for a fifth round pick from the Seattle Seahawks.
For the fans wondering what ate up the cap space the Steelers had entering training camp, once a team locks in the 53-man roster and signs practice squad players, the available cap space that team has diminishes.
As previously mentioned, this could very well be a standard move to give the organization some breathing room in case money needs to be spent during the regular season due to injuries or poor play from certain positions. On the other hand, a restructure of Cameron Heyward's deal coming next would hint that Khan has another trick up his sleeve. It is no secret that the offensive line and inside linebacker positions are in question. Could the Steelers be planning on making a splash?
Steelers defensive stars T.J. Watt (left) and Cameron Heyward (right) stretching prior to a practice at 2022 training camp. | Jordan Schofield / SteelerNation (Twitter: @JSKO_PHOTO)
Chicago Bears linebacker, Roquan Smith is an interesting name to throw out there even though he recently said he is not currently worried about his contract status entering the season. Two other names to keep an eye on are offensive tackles, Eric Fisher and Daryl Williams. Both linemen are still free agents and could help out a struggling offensive line. These two are more likely given the fact that a trade doesn't have to ensue in order to bring them to Pittsburgh.
It seemed as if head coach, Mike Tomlin was hinting at not making any more serious adjustments to the offensive line just a week ago:
“We’ll continually be a group in development,” Tomlin said. “I’m not going to come in here the next day or two saying we’ve solved our offensive line developmental issues. It is a process — individual and collective development.”
With that said, both offensive linemen have a significant amount of playing experience and may be a better option at the tackle positions over the current depth chart. The team may just let the current line gel as the season progresses, or could already know what the group is capable of and could be looking to improve the unit. Either way, NFL teams are always looking to get better and in order to do that, sometimes they have to spend a little bit of money.
The restructure of Watt's contract won't raise too many eyebrows, but it is worth it to keep an eye on Heyward and if a move is made to free up even more space with his deal. The Steelers have obvious holes and, while unlikely, could be planning a surprising move to give a positional group a boost.
What do you make of the Steelers restructuring Watt's contract? Is it a procedural move, or is Khan up to something? Let us know in the comments below!
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