The 2023 season hasn’t necessarily been one of the best ones for Pittsburgh Steelers defensive captain Cameron Heyward. Because of that, one longtime team beat writer believes he might need to give up some money in 2024 if he wants to play out the final year of his current contract.
In his most recent weekly online chat, Gerry Dulac of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette addressed Heyward’s future past the 2023 season when asked to do so.
“I think Cam has earned the right with the Steelers to come back for the final year of his contract, if he so chooses,” Dulac replied during his online chat session. “However, if he does, there is no question he will have to re-do his contract. He is scheduled to earn $16 million salary and count $22.4 million against the cap, so he likely will have to accept a LOT less money for his last season.”
Heyward, who turns 35 years in May, is scheduled to earn a base salary of $16 million in 2024, the final year of his contract. His cap charge, however, is set to be $22,406,250 in 2024 and that is because of previous signing bonus proration.
Heyward, who missed six games earlier this season due to a groin injury, has not yet given any indication that he plans to retire after the 2023 season. If he doesn’t return, the Steelers will be left with a big hole in their defensive linemen room. The only players in that group under contract for the 2024 season besides Heyward are Larry Ogunjobi, Keeanu Benton, Isaiahh Loudermilk and DeMarvin Leal. Loudermilk and Leal have been inactive several times this season on top of that.
Would the Steelers really ask Heyward to take a pay cut this offseason should he ultimately decide to return in 2024? I guess it’s possible, but as we sit here in Week 18 of the 2023 season, I would be a bit surprised if that happens. If it did happen, I can’t imagine a pay cut being more than $5 million. We’ll see, I guess.
If the Steelers are concerned about Heyward’s high cap charge for 2024, and if the two sides don’t go the route of a straight base salary cut, a restructure with voidable years added could be accomplished to lower his cap number. That said, the Steelers are not big fans of using voidable years as a tool to reduce cap charges in a single year. They did it during the COVID-impacted seasons, but the reasons for that were obvious due to the league revenue being adversely impacted.
The Steelers did, however, use voidable years when dealing with the contract of QB Ben Roethlisberger in 2021. That contract restructuring included Roethlisberger taking a $5 million pay cut and also agreeing to four voidable years so that the bulk of his remaining 2021 base salary could be turned into a signing bonus, significantly lowering his salary cap charge for that season.
Would Heyward agree this offseason to something similar to what Roethlisberger did a few years ago? Once again, you can’t completely rule an option like that out right now. What would that look like if Heyward did take a $5 million pay cut in 2024 as part of a four-year voidable extension with no new money? Well, to cut to the chase, such a contract manipulation would lower Heyward’s 2024 cap charge by $12.832 million. It would, however, result in $7.832 million in dead money for the 2025 season once the contract voids after the 2024 season.
Dulac is obviously speculating on Heyward’s 2024 status, and it’s nothing more than that. Once the 2023 season ends for the Steelers, it will be interesting to see when Heyward ultimately addresses his immediate future for 2024. On Wednesday, Heyward did say that he won’t make a decision about 2024 until after this season ends and even then his decision will only be made after he gives his body time to recover. Stay tuned.
