The Pittsburgh Steelers only have the upper hand in negotiations with Cameron Heyward until they don’t. The perennial Pro Bowler, now 35, wants a contract extension, but the Steelers don’t have to oblige. Many question why they would—but that all depends on Heyward. Mark Kaboly of The Athletic suggests the Steelers might want to be careful playing chicken.
“There’s a two-way street here, which is likely why Heyward is talking a lot about playing somewhere else next year, if it comes to that”, Kaboly wrote in a recent mailbag post, regarding a possible extension this summer.
“Heyward wants security, and the Steelers want to cover their backside, leaving these two sides knocking heads”, he went on. “If the Steelers don’t sign him by Sept. 8, then he has the leverage because he can hit free agency for the first time in his career in March and sign with the highest bidder. You might say, “Good luck with that,” but what if Heyward gets back to his Pro Bowl/All-Pro ways? Then what?”.
Few fans seem to be in favor of signing Heyward to a contract extension, preferring the wait-and-see approach, if anything. Some simply want him to retire, or even to leave next year. The only problem is the one that Kaboly raised: what if he’s still really good—and now willing to leave?
As much as they may want things to go differently, not every great Steelers finishes his career here. James Harrison ended up leaving multiple times, for example. Alan Faneca had a whole second career after he left the Steelers, and Joey Porter was nearly Defensive Player of the Year at Harrison’s expense. I can keep going down the list back to and beyond Franco Harris, but the point is you can’t guarantee Heyward retires a Steeler.
For his part, he insists that that is what he wants—the play his whole career here. The problem is he wants to play three more years, so if that isn’t here in 2025, it has to be elsewhere. While the thought of playing for the Browns tests his wife’s gag reflex, there are 28 teams outside the division.
How about the Atlanta Falcons, whom his father played for? They just employed Calais Campbell at age 37 last season, and he played well enough not to sour them on the idea of signing older players. And Heyward at 35 is better than Campbell at 35.
Cameron Heyward is a six-time Pro Bowler and three-time All-Pro. He has 647 career tackles, 121 tackles for loss, 80.5 sacks, eight forced fumbles, 47 batted passes, and two interceptions. For most of his career, he has been a consistent force for the Steelers’ front line.
But now that he is 35 years old and returning from an injury that hindered him last season, nobody is willing to entertain his contract demands—perhaps in terms of both length and compensation. Heyward is playing out the final year of a deal that paid him $16.4 million per season. For most of that extension, he has only improved, with last year the exception. But does last year remain an exception, or does it signal a new norm?
