The Pittsburgh Steelers recently restructured the contracts of five players, including Ben Roethlisberger. Here’s what they could be doing with their limited salary cap.
It didn’t take long into the offseason for the Steelers to start making moves. After cutting Mark Barron, Anthony Chickillo, and Johnny Holton, Pittsburgh proceeded by restructuring the contracts of five players, including quarterback Ben Roethlisberger.
The other players whose contracts were restructured to create cap space include Steven Nelson, Chris Boswell, Vance McDonald, and Joe Haden. By doing so, the Steelers are estimated to be above the cap by about $8 million:
The #Steelers have restructured the contract of CB Steven Nelson.
— SteelerNation (@SteeIerNation) March 17, 2020
So far we've learned they've restructured Ben, Nelson, Boswell, McDonald, and Joe Haden. The Steelers are now reportedly 14.5 million under the cap.
This money certainly isn’t going to go a long way, and Pittsburgh won’t be able to land any high priority free agents. However, it does make you wonder what the Steelers plan is for spending their now freed up money.
One option that is certainly on the table is to give tenders to Matt Feiler, B.J. Finney, and Mike Hilton. While they have the option of putting an original round tender on any of these players for $2,133,000 each, according to Over the Cap, they all were undrafted free agents entering the league, and are subject to being poached.
The best option would be to hand them the slightly more expensive second-round tender at $3,259,000 each. This would force a team to offer up their second-round draft choice if they tried to take Finney or Hilton away from the Steelers – which obviously isn’t going to happen.
The Steelers also have a little bit of wiggle room in free agency. While they can’t go out and get a high-profile free agent, they may have enough wiggle room to add depth at the defensive line or the interior offensive line. Players like Michael Pierce, Vernon Butler, and Max Garcia come to mind.
It’s also important to remember that the Steelers must set aside enough money to sign their rookie draft class in 2020. In addition, they usually set aside a few million in case of injuries down the line.
Pittsburgh isn’t going to wow you with their offseason moves this year, but with a little extra pocket change to go around, perhaps they will elect to keep Feiler, Finney, Hilton, or even Zach Banner. Perhaps they will sign a few reasonable free agents on the market. Let’s hope they make the right moves.