Cam Heyward showed up to the Pittsburgh Steelers’ facility today and by media photo appearances, went through some level of practice. Though it’s a difference compared to the past two weeks, Heyward skipping those OTA sessions, his desire for a long-term deal hasn’t changed. He still wants Pittsburgh to work out a contract extension before the year begins, avoiding free agency next March.
Speaking to reporters following Tuesday’s practice via WTAE’s Andrew Stockey, Heyward said his stance on a new deal hasn’t changed.
Heyward’s expressed a desire to play well past the 2024 season. The question is if the Steelers view his future in the same way. Now 35 years old and coming off groin surgery, there’s reasonable discussions about his longevity. And plenty of obstacles to working out a long-term deal that would keep him on the team past 2024. Is Heyward willing to do a no-new-money extension, a structure similar to Troy Polamalu and Heath Miller in 2014? What future base salaries does he want? If he’s looking for new money, how much and in what way? All issues that need to be worked out in contract talks.
Via Yardbarker’s Aaron Becker, Heyward said he and the Steelers have had contract talks though his framing indicated the two sides aren’t close to a deal.
Perhaps Heyward’s appearance Tuesday was made in good faith. By skipping the first two weeks of voluntary OTAs, he got the message across about his contract situation. It became a top story locally and will be one of the looming questions as the Steelers enter and begin training camp.
Pittsburgh’s long-standing policy has been to only conduct negotiations once players show up, a rule that generally applied to true camp holdouts that have gone extinct but could still apply to someone in Heyward’s position. He made his point, the team is surely happy he’s returned, and the two sides can move forward to find common ground.
Per an interview posted on the team website, Heyward added he will miss Thursday’s OTA due to an obligation with the Walter Payton Man of the Year committee, an award he won for the 2023 season.
The timeline of a new deal is also unknown. Ideally, it happens before camp, allowing Heyward to fully participate in the summer and be at his best for Week 1. But that also assumes an extension does happen. Perhaps the Steelers take a hard-line stance of letting the year play out. If that’s the case, Heyward will have little leverage to do anything else but have a great 2024 season and apply the pressure on Pittsburgh to keep him for 2025.
