4 major contracts Steelers must restructure this offseason to free up cap space

Expect Cam Heyward to get a unique contract extension from the Steelers

A lot has already been out there in the speculative universe about how the Steelers and their future relationship with Cam Heyward will work. The black and gold want to keep the veteran player around, but his cap hit for the upcoming season will be a costly 22.4 million dollars. In a normal year of production Heyward, this thought of changing his cap around would not be in discussion.

Some have floated the idea of cutting Heyward outright, but that would not be the best decision for the team. They need a veteran leader, and a new bill of health will hopefully help Heyward return to form, or at least one that mirrors his former self as he gets older. Cutting Heyward would open up 16 million, but there is another alternative for the Steelers.

They have added void years in a contract extension before, and that was with Ben Roethlisberger. That was their most notable time using the voided years in a contract extension. Most should expect that to happen again here with Heyward's situation. The club could save a lot of money by shrinking his cap number this season by adding a couple of years that included some small cap hits in the future.

Heyward has yet to be known about his thoughts on this, but it would guarantee him the money that he signed on for. It would just be a couple of years behind him. It would likely mean that Heyward would be entering the last year or two in Pittsburgh and potentially in the NFL. He is getting older and his injury issues this season should raise some concerns moving forward. This would likely get the Steelers roughly ten million or more under the cap with plenty of cap casualties to open up more cap space.