The Pittsburgh Steelers are expected to announce the release of a few players by the start of the new league year on Wednesday and it has long been speculated by many that veteran cornerback William Gay might one of them. According to Gay’s agent on Friday, however, the cornerback has yet to be told he’ll be released
According to Ray Fittipaldo of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Jerrold Colton, Gay’s agent, said Friday he has not yet had a conversations with the Steelers about Gay’s future status.
This doesn’t necessarily mean that Gay won’t be cut in the coming days but one would think the Steelers would decide the cornerback’s status by Friday night.
Gay is set to earn a base salary of $1.75 million in 2018, the final year of his current contract. That’s the exact amount the Steelers would save in salary cap space minus roster displacement should they part ways with him. In short, the Steelers would essentially clear roughly $1.27 million in salary cap space by releasing Gay now.
Gay was limited mostly to playing in the Steelers dime defense last season and played less than 300 total snaps. He registered 19 total tackles during the regular season to go along with one interception, two forced fumbles and three passes defensed.
Gay has essentially been a player/coach for the Steelers the past several seasons and is a well-respected leader in the locker room.
