As expected, the Pittsburgh Steelers have begun the process of clearing salary cap space for the 2018 NFL league year. On Saturday, Field Yates of ESPN reports that the Steelers have recently created $13.26 million in salary cap space via contract restructures of defensive end Stephon Tuitt and guard David DeCastro.
Source: the Steelers have created $13.26M in cap space for 2018 by reworking the deals of G David DeCastro and DE Stephon Tuitt. Each player reduced his base salary to $790K for 2018, converting the rest of his base salary and a roster bonus into a signing bonus.
— Field Yates (@FieldYates) February 10, 2018
Per Yates, the Steelers reduced the base salaries of both players down to $790,000 via bonuses in addition to converting the roster bonuses both players were due in March into signing bonuses.
DeCastro was scheduled to earn a $3.79 million base salary in 2018 in addition to a March roster bonus of the same amount. His restructure results in a cap savings in 2018 of $5,092,500. The restructure, however, increases DeCastro’s previous salary cap charges in year’s 2019, 2020, and 2021 by $1.6975 million.
As for Tuitt, who signed a new contract just prior to the start of the 2017 regular season, he was due a $7.5 million roster bonus in March and a base salary in 2018 of $3.5 million. His restructure results in $8.168 million in 2018 salary cap space being created. The restructure, however, increases Tuitt’s original salary cap charges in year’s 2019, 2020, 2021 and 2022 by $2.042 million.
The Steelers have a long history of offseason contract restructures as it relates to them clearing salary cap space in a given year. It’s a quite simple process that generally includes a large portion of a players’ base salary along with potentially a due roster bonus into a signing bonus which is then prorated out the remaining years of the contract, but no more than five. This was the case with both DeCastro and Tuitt.
The DeCastro and Tuitt contract restructures might not be the only ones the Steelers do this offseason.
David DeCastro’s Contract Post Restructure
| YEAR | BASE SALARY | PRO RATED BONUS | ROSTER BONUS | OTHER BONUS | CAP CHARGE |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | $790,000 | $4,897,500 | $0 | $0 | $5,687,500 |
| 2019 | $7,070,000 | $4,897,500 | $0 | $0 | $11,967,500 |
| 2020 | $8,750,000 | $4,897,500 | $0 | $0 | $13,647,500 |
| 2021 | $8,750,000 | $1,697,500 | $0 | $0 | $10,447,500 |
Stephon Tuitt’s Contract Post Restructure
| YEAR | BASE SALARY | PRO RATED BONUS | ROSTER BONUS | OTHER BONUS | CAP CHARGE |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | $790,000 | $4,642,000 | $0 | $0 | $5,432,000 |
| 2019 | $6,000,000 | $4,642,000 | $3,000,000 | $0 | $13,642,000 |
| 2020 | $9,000,000 | $4,642,000 | $0 | $0 | $13,642,000 |
| 2021 | $9,000,000 | $4,642,000 | $0 | $0 | $13,642,000 |
| 2022 | $9,048,560 | $2,042,000 | $0 | $0 | $11,090,560 |
