The Pittsburgh Steelers traded WR Diontae Johnson to the Carolina Panthers on Tuesday and as part of the deal the team received CB Donte Jackson in return. With there being so much misinformation on social media related to the cap impact of the trade, I wanted to lay it all out for everyone.
For starters, Johnson, prior to the trade, was set to count $15,833,334 against the the Steelers cap in 2024. $7 million of that was base salary and another $3 million was a roster bonus due him on March 16. All of that goes to the Panthers in the trade, reportedly. The other $5,833,334 of that $15,833,334 stays with Steelers as dead money as it is past signing bonus proration. In short, the Steelers initially cleared $10 million in 2024 salary cap space prior to getting Jackson back in the trade.
According to Over the Cap, Jackson arrives to the Steelers with a contract that includes a base salary of $4.7225 million and a $4 million roster bonus that is due March 16. He also is on tap to earn a $200,000 offseason workout bonus and his contract calls for him to earn $1.7 million in per game roster bonuses in 2024.
Now, because Jackson only played in 16 games last season and not 17, $100,000 of that $1.7 million does not count against the cap because it is considered NLTBE (not likely to be earned). This means that Jackson arrives in Pittsburgh with a 2024 salary cap number of $10,522,500.
What does all of this mean? It means that the net wash of the trade, barring anything not yet being reported such the Panthers retaining salary of any kind, results in the Steelers using an additional $522,500 of their available salary cap space.
In closing, and barring any unreported details coming out, the Steelers are now $17,916,680 under the cap following the Johnson for Jackson trade.
