The Pittsburgh Steelers agreed to contracts with ten undrafted free agents at the conclusion of the 2022 NFL Draft. Now that most of those players have signed their three-year deals, we can pass along the details of four more of those deals courtesy of former NFL agent Joel Corry of CBS Sports. Make sure to read his great work online here.
Once again, let it be known that the undrafted rookie reservation amount for 2021 is more than $167,944. That number is the maximum amount of signing bonuses teams can give to undrafted free agents in 2022, and is a fixed percentage of the total Rookie Compensation Pool for 2022.
We have already posted about the details related to the contracts signed by Duke running back Mataeo Durant, Oklahoma State running back Jaylen Warren, Alabama offensive lineman Chris Owens, North Carolina offensive lineman Jordan Tucker and Auburn outside linebacker T.D. Moultry. Tonight, we will recap the three-year rookie contracts signed by USC defensive back Chris Steele Michigan defensive tackle Donovan Jeter, Duquesne offensive lineman Jake Dixon and Massachusetts defensive back Bryce Watts.
Of those four players, Steele and Jeter received the highest signing bonuses — $12,500. Dixon’s signing bonus was $12,000 and Watt’s was $10,000. All four players received minimum base salaries for each of the three years of their contracts. These four contracts used all of $15,665 in 2022 salary cap space due to the current status of the steelers Rule of 51. Only the the 2022 prorated amounts of the signing bonuses impact the Rule of 51.
I’ll pass along the other remaining undrafted free agent contract as soon as the full details become available.
| (4) 2022 Steelers Undrafted Rookie Contracts | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chris Steele – Total $2,572,500 – Signing Bonus $12,500 | |||||
| YEAR | BASE SALARY | SIGNING BONUS | WORKOUT BONUS | ROSTER BONUS | CAP CHARGE |
| 2022 | $705,000 | $4,166 | $- | $- | $709,166 |
| 2023 | $870,000 | $4,166 | $- | $- | $874,166 |
| 2024 | $985,000 | $4,168 | $- | $- | $944,168 |
| Donovan Jeter – Total $2,572,500 – Signing Bonus $12,500 | |||||
| YEAR | BASE SALARY | SIGNING BONUS | WORKOUT BONUS | ROSTER BONUS | CAP CHARGE |
| 2022 | $705,000 | $4,166 | $- | $- | $709,166 |
| 2023 | $870,000 | $4,166 | $- | $- | $874,166 |
| 2024 | $940,000 | $4,168 | $- | $- | $944,168 |
| Jake Dixon – Total $2,572,000 – Signing Bonus $12,000 | |||||
| YEAR | BASE SALARY | SIGNING BONUS | WORKOUT BONUS | ROSTER BONUS | CAP CHARGE |
| 2022 | $705,000 | $4,000 | $- | $- | $709,000 |
| 2023 | $870,000 | $4,000 | $- | $- | $874,000 |
| 2024 | $985,000 | $4,000 | $- | $- | $989,000 |
| Bryce Watts – Total $2,570,000 – Signing Bonus $10,000 | |||||
| YEAR | BASE SALARY | SIGNING BONUS | WORKOUT BONUS | ROSTER BONUS | CAP CHARGE |
| 2022 | $705,000 | $3,333 | $- | $- | $708,333 |
| 2023 | $870,000 | $3,333 | $- | $- | $873,333 |
| 2024 | $985,000 | $3,334 | $- | $- | $988,334 |
