The Pittsburgh Steelers signed veteran ILB Tyler Matakevich to a one-year contract a few days ago and on Friday we learned the details of that deal.
According to Over the Cap and the NFLPA public salary cap page, Matakevich’s deal is for the league minimum for his credited NFL seasons. His base salary is $1.21 million and there was no signing bonus given to him.
This contract will qualify as a veteran benefit contract meaning Matakevich will have a salary cap charge of $985,000, which is the minimum base salary for a player with just two credited NFL seasons. It does not appear as though any of the $1.21 million of Matakevich’s base salary is guaranteed, which one would expect to be the case.
Matakevich’s deal should not impact the Steelers’ salary cap situation as it relates to their Rule of 51 and that’s because the lowest cap charge within that is $986,224.
Matakevich signed his deal with Pittsburgh on Wednesday, returning to the team after spending the 2016-2019 seasons with the Steelers. He was selected in the seventh-round of the 2016 NFL Draft by the Steelers out of Temple.
In 2020, Matakevich left the Steelers as an unrestricted free agent, signing a two-year, $7.15-million contract with the Buffalo Bills. Matakevich’s guarantee on the deal was $3.45 million. Matakevich agreed to terms on a one-year contract extension with the Bills in March 2021. In March 2023, Matakevich signed a one-year, $2.5-million contract with the Bills. That contract was fully guaranteed, and the Bills included an additional void year for salary cap purposes.
Mostly used as a special team player throughout his NFL career, Matakevich has played in 129 regular-season games in his first eight NFL seasons. He has registered 132 total tackles with most of those coming on special teams. He also has recorded one interception and four passes defensed for his NFL career.
In total, Matakevich has logged 283 defensive snaps in regular-season play and 2,564 more on special teams. He will turn 32 years old in December.
