It’s almost been two full weeks since I released my initial look ahead at the 2024 salary cap situation of the Pittsburgh Steelers. Since then, the team has added five more players to its offseason roster via Reserve/Future contracts. While those five additions didn’t move the cap space needle much, they still moved it some, nonetheless.
Currently, the Steelers’ Rule of 51 number sits at $262,410,678. That’s an increase of $390,000 thanks to the five recent Reserve/Future signings the team made. Based on an estimated 2024 salary cap amount of $242.5 million and with the team still expected to roll over $2,340,191 in unused 2023 salary cap space, that puts them at an estimated $17,570,487 over the cap as we look ahead to the start of the 2024 NFL year in March.
A look at the Steelers’ latest salary cap update.
As mentioned in my post a few weeks ago, the Steelers’ path to salary cap compliance isn’t very daunting at all. In fact, the expected forthcoming contract terminations of WR Allen Robinson II and T Chukwuma Okorafor should come close to doing the trick. Additionally, the Steelers are likely to look hard at the contracts of QB Mitch Trubisky, CB Patrick Peterson, C Mason Cole, and DT Larry Ogunjobi over the course of the next several weeks, especially with all four players being due March roster bonuses.
While all four aren’t likely to be jettisoned by the start of the new league year, a few might very well be sent packing. Trubisky leads that list in probability.
At some point during the offseason, and possibly sooner rather than later, we’re likely to see the 2024 salary cap charge of DT Cameron Heyward reduced down from $22,406,250. Such a reduction is most likely to come via an extension, possibly two years in length, and with no new money being given in 2024 as part of that. It’s reasonable to believe that such an extension would reduce Heyward’s 2024 salary cap charge by about $9.5 million.
Regurgitating more from my previous 2024 salary cap post, there’s a good chance that the Steelers restructure the contract of OLB Alex Highsmith at some point during the offseason. Such a restructuring, however, might not happen until later in the summer and potentially even after training camp gets underway. A full and standard restructuring of Highsmith’s contract would free up $7.206 million in 2024 salary cap space.
It’s hard to tell this early out if two safeties currently under contract, Damontae Kazee and Keanu Neal, will both survive the entire offseason on the roster. Kazee is scheduled to earn $3 million in 2024, while Neal is set to earn $2.25 million.
The Steelers are likely to sign TE Pat Freiermuth to a contract extension at some point during the offseason, and if that happens, his currently scheduled 2024 salary cap charge of $1,918,057 should increase some as a byproduct of that. Additionally, the team is likely to sign a few outside unrestricted free agents at the start of the 2024 league year in March along with a few of their own. QB Mason Rudolph and S Miles Killebrew are two of the team’s own unrestricted free agents this offseason who could possibly be re-signed by the middle of March.
As usual, my table of salary cap data that is included in this post makes sure to point out projected future costs the Steelers will need to absorb once they get past the start of the new league year in March. Most of those projected future cap costs won’t need to be accommodated until closer to the start of the 2024 regular season. It is merely included in these posts to keep everyone aware of what those costs are. Currently, those projected future costs total out to be $18,397,200.
With the Steelers’ current 2024 roster now at 65 players under contract, we aren’t likely to see huge shifts in the team’s cap space outlook until closer to the start of the new league year in March. It could, however, be slightly impacted by more Reserve/Future signings if any players added have salaries greater than $915,000.
I will make sure to pass along another 2024 Steelers’ salary cap update in a few more weeks and certainly immediately after any notable moves are made.
