6 potential contract extensions Steelers should not give

Steven Nelson

Steven Nelson was still a respectable football player in 2020, but he really came back down to earth last season. After allowing just 50.0 percent completion, a 65.8 passer rating, and 0 touchdowns in 2019, Nelson allowed a whopping 7 touchdown passes to be completed on his watch while surrendering a 97.0 passer rating, according to Pro Football Reference. Nelson also gave up an additional 241 passing yards this year compared to 2019 (732 in all).

This isn’t to suggest that Nelson can’t have a bounce-back season in 2020, but the thought of giving him a rich, new extension is s a bit concerning. Without the takeaways and the numbers to back up his performance over the past two years, Nelson won’t fetch top-dollar on a new extension, but I would hate for Pittsburgh to tie a lot of money into a player who may not be much more than replacement-level talent.

Unfortunately, Nelson is set to have the fifth-highest cap hit on the Steelers this year at $14.4 million – a number that Pittsburgh may not be willing to live with. Now on the last year of his deal, they could give Nelson an extension in an attempt to lower his cap hit in 2021. While I’m not opposed to an extension, back-loading his deal with force the Steelers to cut him a few years down the road and eat a lot of dead money.