The Pittsburgh Steelers now have a 53-man roster created just ahead of the regular season getting underway. That roster creation comes on the heels of the team waiving and cutting several players this past Tuesday. With the active roster now set, the Steelers now have a grand total of $14,147,183 in dead money that’s now on the books for the 2023 season.
Recently, several readers have asked for a detailed breakdown of the Steelers’ 2023 dead money charges by player. Please accept this post as such a detailed breakdown.
Listed first in this post is a table of the dead money charges by player and they are sorted by most to least. Below that chart is a short but detailed explanation as to the dead money charge for each player, or group of players.
Stephon Tuitt – Tuitt retired from the Steelers after June 1, 2022, and the timing of that resulted in $4.755 million of his outstanding signing bonus proration that was still on the books to defer over into 2023. The Steelers had previously restructured Tuitt’s contract in August of 2021 to free up $6.34 million in salary cap space that year. Tuitt will now officially be off the cap books after this final dead money charge.
Myles Jack – After signing a two-year, $16 million contract with the Steelers in March of 2022, Jack only played one season. The Steelers terminated Jack’s contract this past March and that move created $3.25 million in dead money for 2023, which was half of the signing bonus given to him.
Cameron Sutton – The dead money situation with Sutton is a unique one because of him being an unrestricted free agent this past offseason. He became a free agent in March because of his contract voiding back in February. That contract structure was a result of the team signing him to a new deal in March of 2021. However, in an effort to keep his lower cap charges lower in 2021 and 2022, the Steelers used three voidable years to help with the amortization of the $3.5 million signing bonus given to him.
Ahkello Witherspoon – Originally re-signed to a two-year, $8 million deal in March of 2022, Witherspoon only played one year of that contract before it was terminated this past May. That parting of ways caused $1.4825 million of the $2.965 million signing bonus that was given to him to become dead money in 2023.
Chase Claypool – The Steelers traded Claypool to the Chicago Bears last season before the NFL deadline. With that move coming after June 1, it allowed the 2023 portion of his prorated rookie signing bonus, $593,025, to defer over to this year as dead money.
Arthur Maulet – This past May, the Steelers terminated the final year of Maulet’s two-year contract that he signed in 2022. That move created $500,000 in 2023 dead money as it was half of the $1 million signing bonus originally given to him.
Buddy Johnson – A 2021 draft pick, Johnson only played one season with the Steelers, who waived him just ahead of the 2022 regular season. That post-June 1 waiving resulted in the final two years of Johnson’s amortized rookie signing bonus to defer over into 2023 as dead money.
Kendrick Green – The Steelers recently traded Green to the Houston Texans and that move resulted in the 2023 portion, $226,502, of his rookie signing, becoming dead money this year. With this trade coming after June 1, Green will also have a dead money charge in 2024 of $226,502.
Anthony McFarland Jr. – While currently on the Steelers 2023 53-man roster, McFarland was waived by the Steelers last summer. That waiving effectively terminated his rookie contract and as that move happened after June 1 last season, it created $180,608 in 2023 dead money as that was his final year of rookie signing bonus amortization.
Kevin Dotson – Like Green, Dotson was just recently traded as he was shipped off to the Los Angeles Rams. The $164,703 dead money charge for Dotson in 2023 is the remaining prorated amount of his rookie signing bonus.
Zach Gentry – The Steelers re-signed Genty to a one-year veteran benefit contract this past offseason and that deal included a $152,500 signing bonus. The Steelers recently terminated that contract, and that signing bonus became dead money as a result of that move.
Ja’Marcus Bradley, Cody White, Hakeem Butler, Duke Dawson – These four players were all waived this summer as injured. All four then proceeded to clear waivers. After each reverted back to the Steelers Reserve/Injured list, the team provided the four injury settlements. These settlements count against the salary cap so each amount is practically considered dead money.
Chris Oladokin – A 2022 draft pick, Oladokin was waived by the Steelers prior to the start of last season. That post June 1 move resulted in the final three years of his rookie contract salary bonus amortization to defer over into 2023 as dead money.
Le’Raven Clark – The Steelers signed Clark to a one-year veteran benefit deal this past offseason and that contract included a signing bonus of $50,000. His recent contract termination caused that signing bonus money to become dead in 2023.
Tre Norwood – A 2021 draft pick, Norwood was waived recently as part of the team’s moves to finalize their 53-man active roster. With Norwood’s waiving coming after June 1, only the 2023 portion of his amortized rookie signing bonus will be dead in 2023. Another $23,610 will be dead money in 2024 as a result of him being waived.
Carlos Davis – A 2020 draft pick, Davis lasted just two seasons with the Steelers. He was waived by the Steelers prior to the start of the 2022 season and with that move being post June 1, the final year of his rookie contract signing bonus amortization amount deferred over into 2023.
Jordan Tucker, Mataeo Durant, Chris Steele, Donovan Jeter, Jake Dixon, Tyree Johnson, T.D. Moultry, Chris Owens – These eight players were all part of the Steelers 2022 undrafted free agent class. All eight failed to make the team’s 53-man roster last summer and thus each was waived. Each had signed three-year contracts and with the waiving of each coming after June 1, it caused two-thirds of the signing bonus amounts of each to defer over into 2023 as dead money.
Tanner Morgan, David Perales, James Nyamwaya, Monte Pottebaum, Jordan Byrd, B.T. Potter – These six players were all signed earlier in the offseason as 2023 undrafted free agents. Pottebaum retired right after training camp got underway while the other five players were recently waived as part of the Steelers establishing their initial 53-man roster. With these moves coming after June 1, only the 2023 portion of the amortized signing bonus amounts given to these six players will count as dead money this season. The remaining two-thirds of those signing bonus amounts will defer over into 2024 as dead money charges.
