PLEASE REMEMBER THAT THE POST BELOW ORIGINALLY POSTED IN SEPTEMBER OF 2011!!!
Now that the cuts have been made, I finally got around to crunching the complete numbers of the players under contract in 2012 and have compiled the dead money that will push forward next year so we now have a starting point for the Steelers 2012 salary cap situation. During my first glance that I mentioned a week ago, I projected the starting point to be around $135 million. After double checking the numbers and fixing two errors I had, I now have that number at a little over $129 million. This number includes roster bonuses due to LaMarr Woodley, Lawrence Timmons, Casey Hampton, Chris Kemoeatu, Maurkice Pouncey, Rashard Mendenhall, Ziggy Hood and Marcus Gilbert as there is no reason to think that they will not get them at this point.
You can see that there is nearly $2.5 million in dead money that will be charged towards 2012 as well and only 36 players under contract right now for 2012 in addition. It should be noted per my post last week, that this number also does not include the projected $10 million franchise tag for Troy Polamalu, should an extension not be worked out by then. It also does not include the high tender that Mike Wallace is likely to receive, nor does it include any other tenders that may be made to the other few restricted free agents the Steelers will have. Right now I think Wallace, Ramon Foster, Doug Legursky, Keenan Lewis, David Johnson and Ryan Mundy will be restricted free agents, while Isaac Redman and Steve McLendon should be exclusive rights free agents. I need to double check these though, but it sounds right.
I final reminder is that none of this includes the 2012 draft class either which will likely add another $5 million in cap charges or so.
As I mentioned in the previous post, the expected 2012 salary cap is expected to be around $125 million and that includes the $1.5 million total, three player credits the Steelers will surely use again. Should they not use them, it drops the cap number to $123.5 million. Remember that number is a projected number that many people I have talked to project it to be. You can clearly see now the cap hell I was referring to in my previous post. The Steelers will have to make some key cuts which I expect most to come on the defensive side of the ball. They also will be in no shape to make a run at any high profile free agents, not that they would anyway. They also need to think about extending players like Emmanuel Sanders, Antonio Brown or Mendenhall as well as all three will be entering their final year under contract.
Feel free to ask any questions below and this post will serve as the master 2012 salary cap page going forward and will be updated along the way. You might want to bookmark it for easy reference.
If you are looking for the current 2011 salary cap page just follow the link.
PLEASE KEEP IN MIND ABOVE COMMENTARY WAS POSTED SEPTEMBER OF 2011. Lots of things have changed since the time this original post went up!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
UPDATED 2/8/2012 The latest update reflects the restructure of LaMarr Woodley which you can read here and the release of Bryant McFadden, Arnaz Battle, Erik Clanton and Miguel Chavis. I have not yet added the futures contracts yet as they do not go into effect until the new league year starts in March.
UPDATED 2/9/2012 The latest update reflects the restructure of Lawrence Timmons that was announced on Thursday.
UPDATED 2/10/2012 The latest update reflects the restructure of Ike Taylor that was announced on Friday.
UPDATED 2/14/2012 The latest update reflects the 19 players signed to future contracts, the expected restricted tenders to 6 of the Steelers restricted free agents and the 3 players that are exclusive rights free agents. Based on all my projections right now, I have the rule of 51 number at $137,578,703.00 or about $12 million basically over the cap. Keep in mind the Steelers have a $500K credit from unused cap space from 2011.
UPDATED 2/21/2012 The latest update reflects the restructure of Willie Colon that saved $2.85 million in 2012 cap money. The new projected Rule of 51 number is right at about $135 million and this projects the expected tenders in that of which Wallace is projected to get only a first round tender and not the franchise tag.
UPDATED 2/23/2012 The latest update includes the restructured contract of Ben Roethlisberger and brings the rule of 51 number down to $126,992,038.00. When you factor in the credits they have, the Steelers are essentially cap complaint now as my totals reflect the supposed tenders the restricted free agents will get.
UPDATED 3/1/2012 The latest update includes the release of Hines Ward, Aaron Smith and Chris Kemoeatu. The Rule of 51 number below in the table below is $120,277,182.00 and that number includes the projected tenders to the restricted free agents which have not been made yet. The Rule of 51 number as it stands at this very moment is $113,185,182.00 and that of course does not include the restricted tenders. There still is no official word of what the 2012 salary cap number will be. I have been working under the $125 million number, but there are some rumblings it could come in lower than that. I should know that number any day now.
UPDATED 3/2/2012 The latest update includes the release of James Farrior. The Steelers Rule of 51 number now sits at around $111,140,182.00 with only the exclusive rights free agents tendered. The Rule of 51 number I have at the bottom of the table below, which is $117,842,182.00, includes the projected restricted free agent tenders.
UPDATED 3/15/2012 The latest update includes the pay cut restructure of Casey Hampton and I currently have the Steelers rule of 51 number at $114,577,182.00 and that of course includes all of the restricted tenders. The Steelers personal cap number figures to be around $122,706,000.00 and that includes the $506,000 carry over from 2011 and the $1.6 million in extra cap space dolled out due the Redskins and Cowboys uncapped year punishment. That makes the Steelers ABOUT $8,128,818.00 at most under the cap.
UPDATED 5/10/2012 The latest update includes all roster adds and signings except for David DeCastro and Sean Spence. There are a few signing bonuses of a few undrafted free agents that have yet to be accounted for, but those will not total out to be much of anything. I currently have the Steelers rule of 51 number at $116,559,388.00 and that of course includes the unsigned restricted tender of Mike Wallace. The Steelers personal cap number figures to be around $122,706,000.00 and that includes the $506,000 carry over from 2011 and the $1.6 million in extra cap space dolled out due the Redskins and Cowboys uncapped year punishment. That makes the Steelers ABOUT $5,971,612 or so under the cap with 7 of the 9 draft picks accounted for.
UPDATED 7/19/2012 The latest update includes all roster adds and signings including Max Starks. It also includes the signing bonuses for the undrafted free agents that I finally got around to adding. As I mentioned recently, the Steelers estimated cap number is $121,195,000, not the $122,706,000.00 that I had previously listed. I currently have the rule of 51 number right around $116,818,626.00, which would put the Steelers $4,376,374.00 under the cap. I believe that number is off by about $400,000, so realistically I think the true number is right around $3,900,000 under the cap. Keep in mind that I still believe that the Steelers have three $1.5 veteran cap credits yet to use, so if so, that means around $5,400,000 in cap space available with DeCastro yet to be signed.
Steelers 2012 Players Under Contract Salary Cap
| PLAYER | POS | BASE SALARY | CAP CHARGE |
| James Harrison | LB | $5,565,000.00 | $9,030,000.00 |
| Ben Roethlisberger | QB | $900,000.00 | $8,895,000.00 |
| Troy Polamalu | S | $6,250,000.00 | $8,887,500.00 |
| Heath Miller | TE | $4,274,000.00 | $7,070,500.00 |
| Casey Hampton | NT | $2,800,000.00 | $4,966,668.00 |
| LaMarr Woodley | LB | $700,000.00 | $4,940,000.00 |
| Brett Keisel | DE | $2,825,000.00 | $4,500,000.00 |
| Ike Taylor | CB | $825,000.00 | $4,279,166.00 |
| Ryan Clark | S | $3,000,000.00 | $4,250,000.00 |
| Lawrence Timmons | LB | $700,000.00 | $3,985,000.00 |
| Larry Foote | LB | $3,000,000.00 | $3,600,000.00 |
| Rashard Mendenhall | RB | $2,077,500.00 | $3,427,500.00 |
| Willie Colon | T | $700,000.00 | $2,850,000.00 |
| Antonio Brown | WR | $540,000.00 | $2,264,359.00 |
| Maurkice Pouncey | C | $666,125.00 | $2,166,750.00 |
| Ziggy Hood | DE | $615,000.00 | $1,728,535.00 |
| Shaun Suisham | K | $1,350,000.00 | $1,687,500.00 |
| Will Allen | S | $1,280,000.00 | $1,605,000.00 |
| Cameron Heyward | DE | $679,774.00 | $1,523,870.00 |
| Jerricho Cotchery | WR | $1,00,000.00 | $1,500,000.00 |
| David DeCastro | G | $390,000.00 | $1,420,709.00 |
| Mike Wallace | WR | $2,742,000.00 | $2,742,000.00 |
| Ramon Foster | G | $1,260,000.00 | $1,260,000.00 |
| David Johnson | TE | $1,260,000.00 | $1,260,000.00 |
| Doug Legursky | G | $1,260,000.00 | $1,260,000.00 |
| Keenan Lewis | CB | $1,260,000.00 | $1,260,000.00 |
| Ryan Mundy | S | $1,260,000.00 | $1,260,000.00 |
| Greg Warren | LS | $825,000.00 | $925,000.00 |
| Jason Worilds | LB | $540,000.00 | $895,000.00 |
| Emmanuel Sanders | WR | $540,000.00 | $735,357.00 |
| Marcus Gilbert | T | $465,000.00 | $733,503.00 |
| Mike Adams | T | $390,000.00 | $642,500.00 |
| Charlie Batch | QB | $925,000.00 | $605,000.00 |
| Byron Leftwich | QB | $925,000.00 | $605,000.00 |
| Max Starks | T | $825,000.00 | $605,000.00 |
| Curtis Brown | CB | $465,000.00 | $595,300.00 |
| Stevenson Sylvester | LB | $540,000.00 | $578,854.00 |
| Jonathan Dwyer | RB | $540,000.00 | $565,948.00 |
| Leonard Pope | TE | $700,000.00 | $565,000.00 |
| Cortez Allen | CB | $465,000.00 | $562,875.00 |
| Brandon Johnson | LB | $825,000.00 | $540,000.00 |
| Steve McLendon | NT | $540,000.00 | $540,000.00 |
| Isaac Redman | RB | $540,000.00 | $540,000.00 |
| Al Woods | DE | $540,000.00 | $540,000.00 |
| Sean Spence | LB | $390,000.00 | $526,325.00 |
| Chris Carter | LB | $465,000.00 | $505,700.00 |
| Alameda Ta\’amu | NT | $390,000.00 | $498,328.00 |
| Baron Batch | RB | $465,000.00 | $476,628.00 |
| Weslye Saunders | TE | $465,000.00 | $466,333.00 |
| DeMarcus Van Dyke | CB | $465,000.00 | $465,000.00 |
| Chris Rainey | RB | $390,000.00 | $435,413.00 |
| Kelvin Beachum | G | $390,000.00 | $401,474.00 |
| David Paulson | TE | $390,000.00 | $401,474.00 |
| Drew Butler | P | $390,000.00 | $391,667.00 |
| Robert Golden | S | $390,000.00 | $391,667.00 |
| Adrian Robinson | LB | $390,000.00 | $391,667.00 |
| Will Johnson | TE | $390,000.00 | $390,000.00 |
| TOTAL UNDER CONTRACT |
~ |
$65,139,399.00 |
$118,241,334.00 |
| Chris Kemoeatu | G | $0 | $2,869,334.00 |
| Max Starks | T | $0 | $2,000,000.00 |
| James Farrior | LB | $0 | $1,000,000.00 |
| Hines Ward | WR | $0 | $1,220,000.00 |
| Aaron Smith | DE | $0 | $875,000.00 |
| Jonathan Scott | T | $0 | $500,000.00 |
| Arnaz Battle | WR | $0 | $325,000.00 |
| Antwaan Randle El | WR | $0 | $300,000.00 |
| Bryant McFadden | CB | $0 | 166,668.00 |
| Keith Williams | G | $0 | $68,250.00 |
| Trai Essex | T | $0 | $65,000.00 |
| Chris Scott | G/T | $0 | $46,686.00 |
| Crezdon Butler | CB | $0 | $39,724.00 |
| Toney Clemons | WR | $0 | $12,456.00 |
| Terrence Frederick | CB | $0 | $11,474.00 |
| Mario Harvey | LB | $0 | $6,667.00 |
| John Clay | RB | $0 | $6,667.00 |
| Anthony Gray | DT | $0 | $5,334.00 |
| Terrence McCrae | WR | $0 | $4,000.00 |
| Trevis Turner | T | $0 | $4,000.00 |
| Niles Brinkley | CB | $0 | $3,334.00 |
| Miguel Chavis | TE | $0 | $2,667.00 |
| Grant Ressel | K | $0 | $2,500.00 |
| Vaughn Charlton | TE | $0 | $2,000.00 |
| Brett Greenwood | S | $0 | $2,000.00 |
| Terry Carter | CB | $0 | $1,667.00 |
| Ikponmwosa Igbinosun | DE | $0 | $1,667.00 |
| Ryan Lee | G | $0 | $1,667.00 |
| Brandon Lindsey | LB | $0 | $1,667.00 |
| Marquis Maze | WR | $0 | $1,667.00 |
| Erik Clanton | LB | $0 | $1,334.00 |
| Eric Greenwood | WR | $0 | $1,334.00 |
| Colin Miller | C | $0 | $1,334.00 |
| Adam Mims | WR | $0 | $1,334.00 |
| Armand Robinson | WR | $0 | $1,334.00 |
| Jake Stoller | DE | $0 | $1,334.00 |
| Connor Dixon | WR | $0 | $833.00 |
| Aaron Bates | P | $0 | $667.00 |
| Ty Boyle | DE | $0 | $667.00 |
| Derek Chard | LS | $0 | $667.00 |
| Chris Dieker | QB | $0 | $667.00 |
| Josh Harrison | T | $0 | $667.00 |
| TOTAL DEAD MONEY | ~ | $0.00 | $9,464,002.00 |
| TOTAL 2012 CAP | ~ | N/A | $119,695,338.00 |
| TOTAL 2012 | ~ | $65,139,399.00 | 119,695,338.00 |
