On Wednesday afternoon we received the news from Jeremy Fowler of ESPN that Pittsburgh Steelers defensive tackle Cameron Heyward will not be attending OTAs these next several weeks as he’s hoping to get a contract extension finalized this offseason. On the heels of that news breaking, let’s take a quick look at Heyward’s current situation and what he might be looking for in the form of an extension.
Currently, Heyward is set to earn $16 million in 2024, the final year of his current contract. According to Over the Cap, Heyward’s current APY of $16.4 million ranks him 20th overall when it comes to interior defensive linemen around the NFL. Heyward, who seems dead set on playing at least three more seasons, just turned 35 years old. That will make it tough for him to get any fully guaranteed money past 2024 as part of any sort of an extension. Not impossible, mind you, just hard.
Additional 2024 cash, along with a higher APY, are probably the two main goals for Heyward right now when it comes to an extension this offseason. Obviously, any fully guaranteed money past 2024 will also be a goal if he can get that. On the flip side, the Steelers would likely want to lower Heyward’s 2024 cap charge as much as possible as a byproduct of any sort of an extension. The goals for both sides can likely be achieved, especially if Heyward is willing to budge on fully guaranteed money past 2024.
Just as an example, the Steelers could give Cameron Heyward $22 million in total for 2024, which would be $6 million more than he’s currently scheduled to earn. If two additional years were then tacked onto his contract, and if all but $1.21 million of that $22 million was given to him in the form of a signing bonus, Heyward’s 2024 salary cap charge would drop from $22,406,250 to $14,546,250, a decrease of $7.86 million.
Heyward’s 2025 and 2026 base salaries would likely be north of $20 million so that he could jump at least somewhere near or just inside the Top 10 highest-paid players in the interior defensive line position group. Once again, how much of that 2025 base salary, if any, is fully guaranteed might be a sticking point when it comes to getting a contract extension done.
There are other ways of doing an extension without giving Cameron Heyward more cash in 2024 above the $16 million he’s due. However, one would think that would come with the tradeoff of him getting fully guaranteed money in 2025 to offset no additional cash in 2024. It’s something to think about when looking at the big picture.
Obviously, if the Steelers did give Heyward additional 2024 cash money on top of the $16 million he’s currently scheduled to earn this coming season, it would likely marry him to the Steelers through at least the 2025 season. Any fully guaranteed money, if any, in 2025 as part of an extension would obviously further increase Heyward’s ties to the Steelers past the 2024 season.
As for Heyward skipping OTAs, that’s not really a huge deal because it’s not like he would be doing much from a rep standpoint anyway. Obviously, Heyward would need to show up for mandatory minicamp later in the summer and I suspect he will do so. However, whether or not he has signed a new extension by the time mandatory minicamp rolls around is anybody’s guess.
In closing, it’s hard to imagine the Steelers and Cameron Heyward not being able to agree on a contract extension that’s fair for both sides by the time Week 1 of the 2024 regular season rolls around.
