Cam Heyward sent off some Twitter fireworks to start this year’s 4th of July, taking a jab at Pro Football Focus for a graphic it tweeted out Monday.
Yesterday, PFF put together a graphic asking followers to build their “perfect DL Room” with $10 to spend on four players. The players were tiered from $5 to $1, a common game often played in the sports world, especially during quiet period of the offseason like this one.
Along the interior defensive line, Aaron Donald and Chris Jones took the $5 spot, making them the best and most expensive players to “buy.” At the $4 level, Dexter Lawrence and Quinnen Williams were included. Heyward showed up at the $3 level next to Indianapolis’ DeForest Buckner.
Heyward took notice and wasn’t happy about being listed so low.
“Love being called a 3 dollar d lineman! Great to know what y’all think of my worth.” he fired back.
Generally, PFF has been fair to Heyward in recent years and recognized his value and elite-level play. For the 2022 season, Heyward was graded as the Steelers’ top-ranked defensive player by a wide margin over Minkah Fitzpatrick, who finished in second place.
But throughout the offseason, PFF has also slid Heyward down on some of its lists. Most recently, in a sign of how that above graphic would look, Heyward fell to the 5th-ranked interior defensive lineman in the NFL behind the four names that appear above him on the graphic: Donald, Jones, Lawrence, and Williams. All PFF did was take that list and turn it into tier form.
Also on that graphic sits T.J. Watt in the $4 range behind Myles Garrett and Micah Parsons, which will also upset Steelers fans. Garrett vs Watt is one of the biggest debates between Browns and Steelers fans.
While it’s just a silly graphic and nothing anyone should lose sleep over, Heyward has always been one to look for extra motivation and let it be known when he’s not happy with what a media outlet is saying. He’ll use that as fuel as he enters his 13th NFL season. It’ll begin with a chance to break the Steelers’ career sack record. Heyward currently sits just 2.5 away from passing James Harrison for the top spot, though he’s in a fight with Watt, who sits only 3.5 sacks away.
