Three contract restructures down and possibly one more to go for the Pittsburgh Steelers. On Thursday quarterback Ben Roethlisberger became the third player to have his contract restructured which resulted in $6 million in 2013 cap space being cleared.
With the restructures of Roethlisberger, wide receiver Antonio Brown and linebacker Lawrence Timmons now out of the way the Steelers have cleared $14,423,750 in cap space in the last three days
The Rule of 51 number now sits at roughly 121,478,706.00, which is $1,521,294.00 under an estimated $123 million cap number. The Steelers also reportedly have a $1.4 million cap credit in addition, which if used, would put them $2,921,294.00 underneath an estimated $123 million cap number.
The Steelers will need $4.815 worth of cap space after displacement if they are intending to tender Emmanuel Sanders, Jonathan Dwyer, Isaac Redman, Steve McLendon, Stevenson Sylvester, Baron Batch and DeMarcus Van Dyke at the lowest allowable amounts. Batch and Van Dyke are exclusive rights free agents while the other five players are restricted free agents. Should that be their intentions they will need to clear roughly another $1,893,706.00 in cap space to allow for that.
Wednesday reports indicated that the team is also intending to restructure linebacker LaMarr Woodley, which would clear as much as $6.1875 million in additional cap space. Should that full restructure take place the Steelers would be roughly $4,293,794 under a $123 million cap number with four restructures done and seven free agents (5 restricted, 2 exclusive rights) tendered.
The Steelers 2013 rookie draft pool is estimated to be roughly $4.7. That would leave them needing to clear roughly another $406,206.00 in cap space by the time draft picks are all signed. At this point they would need to clear any additional cap money to accommodate any free agents, including their own, that they wish to sign. They also will need a buffer of at least three or more million to accommodate needs that might arise during the season.
You can follow the Steelers 2013 salary numbers at the link provided and I will continue posting these updates after any move is made moving forward.
