The Pittsburgh Steelers recently released CB Duke Dawson from the team’s Reserve/Injured list with an injury settlement and thanks to a Saturday morning NFLPA update, we now know the amount of that.
According the latest NFLPA salary cap page update, Dawson was issued an injury settlement in the amount of $27,778. That will now count against the Steelers’ 2023 salary cap just like dead money would.
As a vested veteran, Dawson was first placed directly on the Steelers’ Reserve/Injured list on August 14 with a split salary amount of $500,000. The injury settlement is based off of that amount and specifically, it was one week worth of that. That amount was derived by dividing $500,000 by 18 weeks.
A knee injury is reportedly what brought Dawson’s time in Pittsburgh to an end. He sustained that knee injury in the fourth quarter of the Steelers preseason road opener against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. That knee injury appeared to be very serious at first, but Dawson seems to have avoided that based on him receiving an injury settlement that equals one week of his split salary pay.
The Steelers could re-sign Dawson later during the regular season, but only after four weeks pass. That length of time is determined by the length of settlement in weeks plus three additional weeks.
The 2022 regular season started with Dawson looking for work as he had been released by the Carolina Panthers in late August. He ultimately was signed to the Steelers’ practice squad in October, and he remained a member of that unit for the rest of the 2022 season. Dawson, a slightly undersized cornerback who is best suited to play in the slot, has bounced around several NFL teams since being selected in the second round of the 2018 NFL Draft by the New England Patriots.
For his NFL career to date, Dawson has played in 26 regular season games and a total of 414 defensive snaps with 182 more coming on special teams. He has recorded 27 total tackles, two defensed passes and one fumble recovery in his NFL career.
The Steelers are now currently $10,481,563 under the salary cap following Dawson’s injury settlement.
