Back in March we passed along the word that the Pittsburgh Steelers had seemingly worked out an agreement with kicker Chris Boswell that resulted in the $2 million roster bonus he was originally due to be paid just after the start of the new league being pushed back until much later in the summer. That report of ours seemed to fly under the radar as now many of the Steelers beat writers are treating the roster bonus date push back as new news.
The only new news regarding Boswell’s roster bonus date push back is that we now know that it is indeed tied to him ultimately making the Steelers initial roster in early September and even that nugget isn’t overly surprising, all things considered. To be more specific, former NFL agent Joel Corry told me that the date tied to Boswell’s roster bonus is September 1, which is the date that teams need to have their active rosters trimmed down to 53 players by.
According to late Tuesday night report by Gerry Dulac of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, the Steelers told Boswell they would delay his $2 million March roster bonus till after the team’s final preseason game. Had Boswell not agreed to the Steelers’ request to push back the roster bonus due date, they would have cut him just after the start of the new league year in March and prior to the date he was due the $2 million.
As previously passed along in March by us, had Boswell refused the Steelers request to delay his roster bonus due date and he was subsequently released before it was paid to him, the team would have incurred a dead money balance from his deleted contract of $4.8 million in 2019. However, with Boswell set to count $4.2 million against the team’s salary cap in 2019, the $600,000 difference would’ve been marginal amount to eat.
Obviously, Boswell agreeing to have his roster bonus due date pushed back isn’t shocking and now he stands to lose $3 million in 2019 should he ultimately fail to win the kicking job this summer as he’s also due a $1 million base salary this year after signing a four-year extension last offseason.
With June 1 now on the horizon, it’s obvious that Boswell will remain on the roster past that magic date. Once June 1 passes, a release of Boswell before his $2 million roster bonus is due would result in the Steelers incurring a dead money charge in 2019 of $1.2 million while saving $3 million in salary cap space this year prior to the kicker being displaced on the roster by another kicker, who would likely have just a minimum salary. A post June 1 release of Boswell would also result in the Steelers incurring a dead money charge in 2020 of $3.6 million.
Curiously enough, Boswell’s extension that he signed last offseason not only included a $2 million roster bonus due him in March of this year, but also a $1 million roster bonus due him in March of 2020.
Below is what the remaining years on Boswell’s contract looks like and we’ll now wait and see if he’s ultimately able to overcome his kicking problems from last season and ultimately earn not only a spot on this year’s 53-man roster, but $3 million in pay as well.
| YEAR | BASE SALARY | SIGNING BONUS | ROSTER BONUS | CAP CHARGE |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | $1,000,000 | $1,200,000 | $2,000,000 | $4,200,000 |
| 2020 | $1,375,000 | $1,200,000 | $1,000,000 | $3,575,000 |
| 2021 | $3,085,000 | $1,200,000 | $0 | $4,285,000 |
| 2022 | $3,260,000 | $1,200,000 | $0 | $4,460,000 |
