The story of the last week or so for the Pittsburgh Steelers, and particularly this morning, has been Cameron Heyward’s contract situation. He is entering the final year of his contract with a large $22.4 million hit on the salary cap, and he is sitting out OTAs in hopes of negotiating a new extension to finish his career in Pittsburgh. Steelers insider Gerry Dulac wrote that Heyward hadn’t notified the team of his plans to skip OTAs, and Heyward responded on X this morning, stating that was a “bold face lie”.
We got more clarity on the matter today with Mike Tomlin speaking to the media after the first session of voluntary OTAs with the whole team.
“I’m not overly concerned to be quite honest with you,” Tomlin said in a video posted by KDKA’s Rich Walsh on X. “Cam’s a guy with over 10,000-plus career snaps. It’s probably an easier day for me with him not being here. Thin the lines out and get to know some people that I know less than him…Be he and I talk often. As a matter of fact, we talked twice yesterday, but that’s not an irregular thing. That’s what we always do.”
Mike Tomlin talks about Cam Heyward absence on the 1st day of OTAs @KDKA pic.twitter.com/TL2KwCOuWB
— Rich Walsh KDKA (@RichieWalsh) May 21, 2024
Heyward made it clear on the most recent episode of his Not Just Football podcast that he is only missing voluntary stuff at this time. Yeah, most players do show up to the voluntary sessions, but it isn’t abnormal to have players in the middle of contract negotiations sit out to protect themselves against injury and ramp up pressure in the negotiations.
“[We] talk about not only where he is and what’s going on with him, but where this team is because as a leader he needs information in that regard,” Tomlin said.
Between Heyward’s words on X this morning and Tomlin’s words in this press conference, the notion that Heyward is malcontent or anything of that nature can be put to rest. At the end of the day, he wants to stay in Pittsburgh. He has made it quite clear over the last few years that he has his sights set on being enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame someday. While he is close, he probably wouldn’t make it if he retired today.
He is also deeply rooted in the Pittsburgh area, including his work with The Heyward House foundation and having kids that are in school in the area. Nobody wants to uproot everything and move to another city at this stage of their career, so Cameron Heyward is trying to ensure he has some contract security so the Steelers can’t discard him next offseason. Another season or two of solid production, and he is probably bound for Canton.
This situation will continue to unfold, and it might be a while before there is a resolution, but at least now it can play out without negative narratives circulating throughout the media landscape.
