The Pittsburgh Steelers re-signed linebacker Steven Johnson to a one-year contract this past weekend and as expected, it was a minimum salary benefit deal that comes with a reduced salary cap charge.
According to Adam Caplan of ESPN, Johnson’s one-year contact totals out at $855,000 and includes a non-guaranteed base salary of $775,000 in addition to a $80,000 guaranteed signing bonus which is the max allowed in order to qualify for the minimum salary benefit in the league’s CBA.
Johnson will have a 2017 salary cap charge of $695,000 and should he ultimately be released, the Steelers will only have $80,000 in dead money associated with such a move.
Last year, the Steelers signed Johnson to one-year minimum salary benefit contract and that deal only included a $25,000 signing bonus in addition to a $55,000 first game 53-man roster bonus. Even though Johnson was initially released ahead of the 2016 regular season, when he was signed back a few days later the Steelers still gave him the $55,000 bonus in good faith.
Johnson’s 2016 season was ultimately cut short by a broken ankle and he was placed on the team’s Reserve/Injured list. Johnson is a top-level special teams player and he’ll need to prove that again during training camp and the preseason in order to make the 2017 final 53-man roster.
