As expected, the Pittsburgh Steelers officially signed tight end Matt Spaeth to a contract on Monday.
The deal is for two years, but the numbers are not out yet. It is hard to imagine that Spaeth received a signing bonus of more than $1 million. I would guess that it is somewhere in the neighborhood of $500,000 and possibly even less. This would put the 2013 cap number for Spaeth at around $1 million or just slightly higher. We shall see when the numbers get posted.
Based on it being a two-year deal, I think the Steelers have already penciled in Spaeth as being on the 53 man roster this year. They needed a blocking tight end being as it looks like Leonard Pope will not be returning. Spaeth is a much better blocker than Pope was, so it is an upgrade in that department.
Second-year tight end David Paulson is on the bubble right now depending on what happens in the draft and how the rehab of Heath Miller goes. Miller is expected to be sidelined all summer and it is possible that he might start the season on the reserve PUP list in addition.
The signing of Spaeth also means that David Johnson is more than likely being considered a fullback more than he is a tight end. He will have a tough time beating out Will Johnson for that spot and will not cost the Steelers anything in dead money should he not make the 53 man roster.
