At some point between now and the start of the 2015 season, Pittsburgh Steelers defensive end Cameron Heyward will likely receive a contract extension that should result in him being included in the top-5 highest paid 3-4 defensive ends in the league. Even though it’s going to happen, Heyward claimed Wednesday morning during his talk with the media that his contract situation is not currently on his mind.
“I’m not one of those guys that thinks about my contract while I’m here,” Hewyard said, according to Chris Bradford of the Beaver County Times. “I would love to have it done as soon as possible, but I’m not in any rush. I’m going to let the cards fall where they might and continue to improve.”
Those cards have already fallen in a way that ensures Heyward will at least earn $6.969 million in 2015 after the Steelers chose to pick up the fifth-year option of his rookie contract last offseason. After having that picked up, Heyward went on to record 53 total tackles and a career-high seven sacks in 2014. In other words, he picked a fine time to really break out.
When the Steelers report to Latrobe for training camp later this summer, that’s likely when we will start hearing more about contract negotiations with Heyward, who was drafted by the Steelers in the first round of the 2011 NFL Draft out of Ohio State. Being as his new deal will likely average around $9.5-10 million a season when the ink finally dries on it, it’s no wonder why he isn’t very worried about on daily basis.
