While most other teams around the league are projected to lose quality starters (or even a star player) in free agency, the Pittsburgh Steelers can take comfort in knowing that every notable starter is still under contract for the 2024 season. This is good news for a team that plans to compete and improve next season.
What's not-so-good news is that Pittsburgh is in a bit of a financial bind. Even after their first wave of roster moves (releasing Mitch Trubisky, Chukwuma Okorafor, and Pressley Harvin), the Steelers still find themselves in a salary cap hole.
Fortunately, this is one that Omar Khan can climb out of with a few more simple roster decisions. This will not only give them some breathing room, but it will also free up salary cap space to make a few signings this offseason.
However, there are three contracts on the Steelers that are eating up a great deal of the team's total cap space in 2024. These three cap hits are holding Pittsburgh back from substantial spending room this offseason.
MInkah Fitzpatrick: 4 years, $72.9 million
Minkah Fitzpatrick is in the middle of his four-year, $72.988 million contract that he signed during the 2022 offseason that made him the richest safety in the NFL. This came after earning two First-Team All-Pro honors in less than three full seasons with the Steelers.
Fitzpatrick is making $18.25 million on average in new annual money -- which is already a significant number in itself. But thanks to former GM Kevin Colbert backloading his contract in order to save more cap space in 2022 and 2023, Minkah's cap number now skyrockets to over $21.3 million in each of the next three seasons and even reaches $24.4 million in 2026.
This number is simply too high for a safety -- even for a three-time All-Pro like Fitzpatrick. If Fitzpatrick is as banged up in 2024 as he was last year, he won't earn a fraction of the lofty $14.5 million base salary he is set to receive.
Because of his extraordinarily large cap number this year, the Steelers are likely to restructure Fitzpatrick's deal a second time (they already had to restructure his contract in March of 2023 to free up cap space). Right now, Fitzpatrick's $21.355 million cap number would take up 8.7 percent of the team's total cap space. This figure is holding Pittsburgh back right now in terms of what they can do in free agency, and I would expect them to do something about it once again this offseason.
Larry Ogunjobi: 3 years, $28.75 million
After his first season with the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2022, Larry Ogunjobi tested the free-agent waters. When the interior defensive line depth quickly dried up during the 2023 free agency period, the Steelers handed Ogunjobi a rich new deal -- almost out of desperation to cover their bases at defensive tackle.
This three-year, $28.75 million contract was much steeper than I would have been comfortable with the team paying him. What's worse is that the most manageable cap number is already behind us. Ogunjobi's cap hit was just over $4.93 million during the 2023 season. Now that figure jumps up to nearly $13.3 million in 2024.
For what Pittsburgh has gotten out of Ogunjobi in his first two seasons, this is an unreasonable number. The veteran defensive tackle hasn't been nearly as disruptive as advertised and he routinely struggles to anchor against the run. So what can the Steelers do about it?
There are plenty of folks who are advocating for Pittsburgh to cut him this offseason. This isn't completely out of the question, but a restructure could also be on the table. Sadly, cutting Ogunjobi this offseason would result in a substantial $7 million in dead money. Regardless of what they decide to do, there's no question that Larry Ogunjobi's contract is detrimental to the team.
Cameron Heyward: 4 years, $65.6 million
When Cameron Heyward signed a lucrative extension with the Steelers during the 2020 offseason, the team was getting a great deal. Heyward had already established himself as one of the best interior defenders in the NFL, so $16.4 million in new annual earnings on his four-year, $65.6 million contract was chump change for a player of his caliber.
Sadly, the Steelers are running into the same predicament they often find themselves in. Heyward's deal was restructured during the 2021 offseason -- just one year after signing his contract. In the process, however, Pittsburgh pushed the bulk of his cap hit into the future.
Kicking the can down the road is nothing new for the Steelers as they try to remain as competitive as possible each year. But by doing so, Heyward has a lofty cap number of over $22.4 million for the upcoming 2024 season.
Because this is the final year of his deal, the Steelers cannot restructure his contract and push money into the future. Heyward already said that he's not taking a pay cut. This means that Pittsburgh will likely have to give the nearly 35-year-old defensive lineman a contract (perhaps one that includes voidable years) so that they can lower his cap number in 2024.
At his age and the fact that he missed half the season in 2023, Omar Khan and the front office can't justify allowing Heyward's cap number to take up 9.2 percent of the team's total cap space in 2024. The final year of his contract is holding the Steelers back.
All contract and salary cap numbers courtesy of Over the Cap.