Pittsburgh Steelers veteran linebacker Lawrence Timmons is currently scheduled to have the second-highest cap charge on the team in 2016 and because of that, several have speculated that the team might consider parting ways with him during the offseason. However, during his Wednesday morning talk with the media at the 2016 NFL Scouting Combine, Steelers general manager Kevin Colbert gave every indication that Timmons will remain with the team in 2016.
“Lawrence is a valuable contributor to our defense, to our team,” said Colbert, when asked if he had confidence that Timmons will remain with the Steelers in 2016. “He’s one of the team leaders even though he’s not a real vocal guy, so Lawrence is under contract and until that’s different, he certainly will be.”
That is as straight forward as it gets and as I have written several times so far this offseason, I fully expect Timmons to receive a contract extension as some point in the coming weeks that will result in his currently scheduled cap charge of $15,131,250 being lowered.
If things go like I think they will, Timmons will likely receive a two-year extension that might not include any new guaranteed money. In other words, I expect a good portion of his $8.75 million scheduled base salary in 2016 to be turned into a signing bonus so that it can be prorated over the course of three years. That in turn would lower Timmons’ 2016 salary cap charge by as much as $5,166,667.
Timmons was drafted by the Steelers in the first round of the 2007 NFL Draft out of Florida State. Last season he registered 119 total tackles and 5 sacks during the regular season in addition to recording one interception and one forced fumble.
