The Pittsburgh Steelers lost a little bit of salary cap space this past week due to players who had previously suffered injuries.
On Wednesday and Thursday the Steelers lost $42,702 in salary cap space each day due to the injury settlements they recently gave to wide receivers Marcus Tucker and Damoun Patterson. That specific amount reveals that both players were given two weeks of the $363,000 split salary each was scheduled to earn after landing on the Steelers Reserve/Injured list.
In addition to losing $85,404 in salary cap space for those two injury settlements this past week, the Steelers also had a $550,000 deduction on Friday and that should be for an extended injury protection benefit claim filed for by former Steelers tight end Ladarius Green that I projected the team being charged this year way back in January.
If you remember back to a little less than a year ago, the Steelers 2017 salary cap total was charged $1.15 million for Green as part of his initial injury protection benefit payment. Green being unable to sign with another team over the course of the last year was likely as a result of his concussion issues and thus he was qualified for an extended injury protection benefit claim in the amount of $550,000.
The Steelers situation with Green is exactly like the one they went through with former kicker Shaun Suisham a few years ago and I wrote what the CBA says about the league’s injury protection benefit payout at that time. Below is a reprint of that section of the CBA once again which should help you understand why Green qualified for these benefits the last two years.
In total, these three salary cap deductions this past week totaled out at $635,404. As of Friday, the Steelers have $11,267,435 in available salary cap space, according to the NFPA salary cap report.
PER NFL CBA ARTICLE 45 – INJURY PROTECTION
Section 2. Benefit: A player qualifying under Section 1 above will receive an amount equal to 50% of his Paragraph 5 Salary for the season following the season of injury, up to a maximum payment of: $1,000,000, in the 2011–12 League Years; $1,050,000, in the 2013–14 League Years; $1,100,000, in the 2015–16 League Years; $1,150,000, in the 2017–18 League Years; and $1,200,000, in the 2019–2020 League Years; in each case unless he has individually negotiated more injury protection or a larger guaranteed salary in his contract. A player will receive no amount of any contract covering any season subsequent to the season following the season of injury, except if he has individually negotiated more injury protection or a larger guaranteed salary in that contract for the affected year in question or if he qualifies for the Extended Injury Protection benefit described below. The benefit will be paid to the player in equal weekly installments commencing no later than the date of the first regular season game, which benefit payments will cease if the player signs a contract for that season with another Club. A player will not be entitled to such benefit more than once during his playing career in the NFL, and such benefit shall be reduced by any salary guaranteed to the player for the season following the season of injury.
Section 4. Extended Injury Protection Qualification: A player who has qualified for and received the Injury Protection benefit set forth in Sections 1 and 2 above, and has a Player Contract for the second season following the season of injury (for the first five seasons of this Agreement, at the time he sustained such injury), shall qualify for the Extended Injury Protection Benefit if he satisfies all of the criteria below:
(a) The player must have remained physically unable, because of the same severe football injury or Club-authorized surgery for which he qualified for the Injury Protection benefit, to play football as certified by the Club physician following a physical examination within sixty (60) days of his former Club’s last regular season game of the season following the season of injury, if such examination is requested by the player’s former Club;
(b) The player must have continued to undergo whatever reasonable and customary rehabilitation treatment his former Club required of him. Following the physical examination referenced in Section 4(a) above, the Club may require Player to submit to a reasonable number of physical examinations. Such examinations directed by the Club may take place in the Club city or in another location designated by the Club; and
(c) The player must have failed a physical examination given by his former Club prior to June 1st of the season for which he is seeking the Extended Injury Protection benefit. This physical must be given by either the Club physician or a physician designated by his former Club so long as the fact that the examination is being given for the purpose of determining the player’s eligibility for the Extended Injury Protection benefit is clearly communicated in writing to the player at the time of the physical exam. A Club cannot avoid Injury Protection liability by failing or refusing to perform the exam in a timely manner, provided that the player cooperates in the administration of the physical examination.
Section 5. Extended Injury Protection Benefit: A player qualifying under Section 4 above will receive an amount equal to 30% of his Paragraph 5 Salary for the second season following the season of injury, up to a maximum payment of: $500,000, for the 2012–14 League Years; $525,000, for the 2015–16 League Years; $550,000, for the 2017– 18 League Years; and $575,000, for the 2019–20 League Years; in each case unless he has individually negotiated more injury protection or a larger guaranteed salary in his contract for the affected year in question. The benefit will be paid to the player in equal weekly installments commencing no later than the date of the first regular season game, which benefit payments will cease if the player signs a contract for that season with another Club. A player will not be entitled to such benefit more than once during his playing career in the NFL, and such benefit shall be reduced by any salary guaranteed to the player for the second season following the season of injury.
