The Pittsburgh Steelers still haven’t signed cornerback Joe Haden to a contract extension this summer but the two sides are reportedly making progress on getting a deal done prior to the start of the 2019 regular season.
According to a Monday morning tweet from Jeremy Fowler of ESPN.com, the Steelers and Haden are making progress on a two-year contract extension as both sides have exchanged proposals. Fowler goes on to say that while Haden is due $10 million in the last year of his current deal that he signed in 2017 that the Steelers could rework that year and extend him through 2021.
What Fowler reported Monday isn’t anything new. Haden is indeed due a base salary of $10 million in 2019 and a good portion of that might likely be turned into a signing bonus as part of a two-year extension.
With his last contract averaging $9 million per season, Haden’s forthcoming extension might have a new money average of at least $12 million, as that would then put him in the top 15 highest paid cornerbacks in the NFL. However, to get to a $12 million new money average the Steelers would need to give Haden $34 million in total over the course of the next three years as he’s currently due $10 million for 2019.
Assuming the Steelers do wind up signing Haden to a two-year extension with a new money average of at least $12 million, they would likely need to give him around $13 million in 2019 in combined base salary and signing bonus. The greater the signing bonus, the more potential dead money there will be in the final year of the extension, 2021.
Giving Haden a $9 million signing bonus and $4 million base salary in 2019 would result in Haden getting his $13 million for the season and him having a salary cap charge of $8,916,668, which would be $3 million less than his currently scheduled charge of $11,916,668.
Below is an example of what a potential two-year contract for Haden might look like if he were to accept a low new money average of $12 million. Personally, I’m not expecting Haden to accept a deal lower than this. As you can see in this example, Haden would earn $13 million in 2019 via a $4 million base salary and a $9 million signing bonus. He would then go on to to potentially earn $21 million total in the final two years. His case flow in the three years would be $13 million in 2019, $25 million through 2020 and $34 million through 2021.
| YEAR | BASE SALARY | SIGNING BONUS | ROSTER BONUS | CAP CHARGE |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | $4,000,000 | $4,916,668 | $0 | $8,916,668 |
| 2020 | $9,000,000 | $3,000,000 | $3,000,000 | $15,000,000 |
| 2021 | $9,000,000 | $3,000,000 | $0 | $12,000,000 |
