Pittsburgh Steelers DL Cameron Heyward returned to OTAs earlier this week after skipping the first two weeks as he seeks a new contract from the Steelers. While Heyward said the plan was always to return in June, Ray Fittipaldo of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette said on 93.7 The Fan that Heyward’s return was a sign that “the negotiating ploy really didn’t work.” Fittipaldo, who believes that Heyward is a top-five defensive lineman when healthy, said Heyward shouldn’t be paid like one because entering negotiations he has the “double whammy” of age and coming off multiple surgeries against him.
“We’re talking about, really, a double whammy against Cam and his reps when you go into this negotiation. Number one, I just mentioned it, it’s his age. He’s 35, just turned 35 last month,” Fittipaldo said on The Fan Morning Show. “On top of that, he’s coming off two groin surgeries, one early in the season to fix the issue, the second, the way Cam described it yesterday is precautionary and tightening down the other side. So anytime you need two surgeries at his age to get ready for a new season, I think there’s obviously a little bit of concern there, but Cam says he’s good. But no, I don’t think he’s worthy of being paid top-five at his position.”
It’s fine to argue that Heyward doesn’t deserve to be paid like a top-five interior defensive lineman, but I think the issue with the surgeries is being a little bit overblown. He came back, maybe a little too early, after he had the first one and he never lost any of his strength, which has been Heyward’s calling card throughout his career. The second one was to clean things up after the season, which should only stand to make him healthier and more productive going forward.
The age combined with the injuries is obviously a hold up though when it comes to discussing his long-term future. While the injuries might not be a huge deal, they will probably affect future guarantees on Heyward’s deal. Just due to the fact that he is 35 and there’s questions about how long he has left, even though he wants to play three more seasons, it’s hard to envision Heyward getting much guaranteed money beyond 2024. That will likely cause negotiations to drag on, but a deal will more than likely get done at some point this summer. It really becomes just a matter of when, and if it doesn’t happen before camp, there is the question of whether Heyward might “hold-in.”
We have a lot of summer to go for Heyward and the Steelers to hammer out a deal, but I think the Steelers will take care of their captain and longest-tenured player to keep him in the Black and Gold.
