The Pittsburgh Steelers signed defensive lineman Ricardo Mathews to a one-year contract last week and now that the deal has been filed with the NFLPA we know the specifics associated with it.
Mathews’ one-year deal, as expected, totals out at $760,000 and he did not receive a signing bonus. This deal, however, still qualifies as a Minimum Salary Benefit contract so Mathews’ cap charge in 2016 will be $600,000, assuming he makes the team’s final 53-man roster out of training camp. There should be no dead money associated with his contract should the team ultimately need to release him prior to Week 1.
As a result of the signing of Mathews, the Steelers used only $75,000 in additional salary cap space after roster displacement took place in the top 51. The signing of Mathews is also not expected to impact the compensatory draft pick formula for next year being as it is just a minimum salary deal.
Mathews played in a total of 28 regular-season games with the San Diego Chargers over the course of the last two seasons. Last year he started 7 games for the Chargers and recorded 22 total tackles and one sack, which just so happened to come against the Steelers in Week 5.
The Steelers are likely hoping that Mathews can serve as depth at defensive tackle in the team’s nickel package in 2016 in addition to him also being able to play a few rotational snaps at defensive end in the team’s base personnel grouping.
