The Pittsburgh Steelers still have a lot of time until their Week One game and will likely have a few more player injuries. By the end of Thursday, the Steelers should have three players on their Reserve/Injured list with all looking like they might stay there for the entire 2023 season. At the very least, those three players will be extra salary cap charges for the Steelers to account for come Week One of the season.
On Wednesday, Steelers rookie cornerback Cory Trice Jr. became the first notable player the team has placed on the Reserve/Injured list. Trice, the team’s first of two seventh-round draft picks in 2023, suffered a significant knee injury on Tuesday that will presumably require surgery. With him being a late-round draft pick, his contract has a split salary clause in it. That means he will earn a base salary of just $450,000 in 2023, instead of $750,000.
Split salary clauses are quite common in rookie deals of players selected in the fourth round and later. This goes for undrafted players as well. Even veteran players who sign lower-dollar deals sometimes get split salary clauses in their contracts to protect the team a little bit should serious injury strike.
Below is the minimum salaries schedule from the NFL CBA for players with split salaries.
In addition to Trice now being on the Reserve/Injured list, rookie undrafted running back Alfonzo Graham should join him on it by Thursday evening. Graham was waived/injured with a shoulder injury on Wednesday and should clear waivers on Thursday and revert to the Steelers’ Reserve/Injured list. Assuming he needs shoulder surgery for a torn labrum, he should be on the Reserve/Injured list all season just as running back Jeremy McNichols was last season.
Earlier in the offseason, the Steelers lost defensive lineman Renell Wren to an Achilles injury, and he has long since resided on the team’s Reserve/Injured list on a split salary of $475,000. He’s expected to remain on the list all season.
With the NFL using the Rule of 51 until Week One rolls around, the Steelers are not feeling the impact of the players on the Reserve/Injured list. Once, however, Week One does arrive and the Rule of 51 goes away, all players on the Reserve/Injured list will count against the team’s salary cap number. As of Thursday afternoon, that additional amount for the Steelers is $1,396,109. It will likely be around $3 million come Week One.
