With the start of 2013 league year now one week away, the Pittsburgh Steelers are continuing to try to trim additional salary cap dollars however they can.
Ed Bouchette of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports on Tuesday that Bill Parise, the agent for linebacker James Harrison, is continuing his talks with Steelers concerning his clients\’ future.
Parise reportedly met with the Steelers during the NFL combine and indicated that future talks were likely.
Parise had indicated earlier in the offseason that they were not interested in Harrison taking a paycut, but that they were open to restructuring his contract. Harrison, who is currently under contract through the 2014 season, is scheduled to earn a base salary of $6.57 million in 2013. The Steelers would obviously like to get that number down by at least $3 million, or more, if possible.
Should the Steelers wind up not convincing Harrison to take a paycut, they would either have to restructure his contract, which could include adding another false year onto the length, or they could terminate it. That last option would clear $5.105 million worth of cap space without factoring in roster displacement.
Harrison will be 35 years old in a few months, and as I pointed out in a previous post, that is historically not an age that defensive players have shown to be very productive.
