As we sit here today, the Steelers are a hair over 22 million dollars over the NFL's regulated cap ceiling, according to Spotrac. They will need to at least shed that amount of money to get under that cap. They will have plenty more work ahead of them if they truly wish to attack free agency like they have in prior years. The good news is that there are plenty of clear paths ahead of them to get there.
Cap casualties that are currently employed by the Steelers will likely get cut within the next couple of months leading up to free agency. That alone will probably open up a significant amount of money that Pittsburgh can use on outside free agents. Another option will be going to big-time players with huge contracts and requesting them to restructure their contracts.
Alex Highsmith could be first up on restructuring his contract this offseason
Alex Highsmith just recently got his big contract, and it seems time for the black and gold to come to him and ask to restructure his money. He might not have had the best statistical season this past campaign, but he was able to make significant contributions. For one reason or another, Highsmith was mostly held off the stat sheet, but he was able to make a significant impact on the field.
According to Spotrac's website, the Steelers could save a little over seven million dollars by having this restructure put into place. That is significant as it immediately puts the Steelers closer to the cap ceiling, even though they will still have plenty of work to do. Doing a restructuring like this does not mean a pay cut or anything of the sort, but it allocates his money elsewhere.
This move also doesn't have anything to do with the performance of Highsmith either. He played well this year and is worth the current deal that he is on. He should have a better statistical season next time around. A great move here by Omar Khan if he decides to do so. It immediately takes you under the cap ceiling with plenty of other options to make even more spending cash.
Star Safety Minkah Fitzpatrick could save the Steelers a lot of money
Another big option for the black and gold to change the workings of his contract is none other than Minkah Fitzpatrick. The star safety had a tough season that made him seem less of an elite player. There are plenty of reasons why Fitzpatrick had issues this season. He is still an elite player, but because of those issues this year his stat sheet looked uncommon for him in a negative way.
Perhaps one of the issues with Fitzpatrick was his rotational pieces around him. Neither Keanu Neal nor Damonate Kazee allowed Fitzpatrick to play in the role he is more suited for. It pushed him to cover tight ends and stay away from the ball-hawking role that he has been used to. Terrell Edmunds was not a perfect player, but he did do that job and that allowed for Fitzpatrick to roam the field for turnovers.
Injuries were the main issue with Fitzpatrick this season. He missed significant time with both a hamstring and then a hand/wrist injury. That caused him to miss a lot of time and you could tell that he was rushed back onto the field. He was still better than the other options available, but it limited his ability to produce at the rate that most fans of the Steelers are used to.
Getting a restructuring of his contract done seems to be an obvious conclusion when you look at the amount of savings it would provide. Getting Fitzpatrick to restructure his deal would save Pittsburgh a little under nine million bucks. With his deal and Highsmith's redone already, Pittsburgh would be about six million dollars over the cap ceiling. Still, more work to do for the Steelers in this scenario.
T.J. Watt makes a lot of money and could open up a lot of cap space
With more work needing to be done to solve the cap issues for this upcoming season, the Steelers turn back to T.J. Watt to help them out again in the short term. Watt agrees and wants to do anything possible to give this team as much spending money as possible to try and build this team into a contender. Restructuring his contract is the next best way as it will get the Steelers back under the cap ceiling by nearly four million dollars.
Watt had another NFL Defensive Player of the Year caliber season. For one reason or another, it seems like that award will not go to him, even though he led the league in many statistical categories. Myles Garrett has been the political pawn to win that award and it seems like he will get it even though he didn't get as many sacks or splash plays as much as Watt did.
Time to get off that soap box as the Steelers now have restructured both of their star edge rushers to open cap space. It seems almost like a necessity for Pittsburgh to do so they can claw their way into cap savings. Finally, the black and gold are out of the red in terms of their money and can now either open more through restructures or cap casualties.
Three players have had their deals redone now with Highsmith, Fitzpatrick, and now Watt. All three seem to be willing to do as much as possible to improve their club as much as the front office can. Free agency will have some options out there that could improve this team. The Steelers will try and be active in free agency and potentially in the trade market too, which means there is more work to go.
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.