Steelers Salary Cap Update: Ready For June 1st

The Steelers have been under a tight salary cap for the last several seasons.

Bloated contracts and restructured contracts made for rough offseasons of heavy cuts to the roster, even more restructuring, and still hardly a dime to find a good free agent veteran.

Last season paved the way for a better 2015 cap situation. The league increased the cap by over $10 million, and the new rule about cap savings went into play – hatever money doesn’t get used up this season, gets dumped into initial cap savings for the following season.

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Before the draft even begins, the Steelers are looking very good with their financials.

The NFLPA recently released the latest update for players under contract and the salary cap.

The Steelers have 68 players under contract. Carry over from last season equates to $778,500 and the team cap currently sits at $137,172,985. That leaves almost $6.9 million left to spend.

Troy Polamalu is all but cleaning out his locker for the Steelers. The team has never said they would like to have them back meaning that they really don’t want him back for one last season.

Whether he retires or the Steelers release him, I would fully expect the team to hold onto him until June 1st. The team would get an added $2.25 million in cap savings by doing so.

Polamalu’s release alone would give them enough money to sign all eight draft selections this season.

So what will they do with the extra $6.9 million they currently have?

Depending on how the draft shakes out, I would expect them to hold onto that money. Now that teams are allowed to carry over cap savings from one year to the next, they could bank roll that almost $7 million and use it to sign someone like Cameron Heyward or David DeCastro to a contract extension before they become free agents.

One of those two could be extended even before this season begins now that Ben Roethlisberger signed his new deal.

Criticize Kevin Colbert all you want, but you have to admit that they are finally starting to play smart with their cash reserves. Those current savings are huge and gives them a mountain of flexibility between now and February 2016.

Well, maybe it only seems like a mountain based on recent history’s constraints. Perspective. Perspective.

Next: Former Steeler Making His Mark On Pittsburgh

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