The Pittsburgh Steelers signed Cameron Heyward to a three-year, $45 million contract, tying him up for the next three years. And if you have a problem with that contract already, then you’re wrong; allow me to explain why.
Heyward turned 35 years old in May, and he played throughout the 2023 season injured when he played at all. In 11 games, he managed just 33 tackles with six tackles for loss and two sacks, thoroughly pedestrian numbers. How could the Steelers signing him to a new contract that includes $29 million in new money be a good thing?
Let’s start with the truth of this contract that Cameron Heyward signed: it doesn’t necessarily change anything, at all. The Steelers were already committed to paying him the $16 million he had on the books for 2024 in base salary. That is all he is making this season, and he has no guarantees beyond this season.
While we don’t have the exact figures yet, what the Steelers surely did was reduce Heyward’s $16 million base salary to the veteran minimum, converting the rest into a signing bonus, which then spreads out over the next three years against the cap. He will earn $29 million between the 2025-26 seasons—but only if he is actually on the roster.
In other words, Heyward just signed a pay-as-you-go contract. The Steelers will pay him $16 million to play this year, which was their intention all along. If they want him back in 2025, they will pay him another $14-15 million. And if they want him back in 2026, they will pay him another $14-15 million.
It’s really that simple. Practically speaking, it changes nothing about the 2024 season or the cap beyond opening up space. And if the Steelers don’t use the cap space gained through this restructure, it just rolls into next year. That offsets the dreaded “dead money” that some fans spend too much time worrying about, merely creating more short-term flexibility.
In other words, Cameron Heyward has his three-year contract, but he’s still on a prove-it deal. If he wants to be here next year, he still has to show the Steelers he’s worth the money. If anything, he should find even more motivation in this contract, knowing that the money is on the books. All he has to do is earn it instead of being uncertain whether there is another contract in his future.
And on top of that, it shows the good faith of the organization by laying out its intentions. The Steelers want Cameron Heyward to play his entire career in Pittsburgh. They want him to earn the extra $29 million that he now has on the books. And I’m certainly not going to be the one to put it past him to do so.
Let’s take another step and compare Heyward’s contract to other interior defensive linemen. While the new-money value is $14.5 million, let’s be charitable and call it $15 million over three years. That contract puts him outside the top 20 players at his position, yet he still has top-10 talent. The question is, does Heyward still have the body and conditioning that will allow him to maximize his talents?
What the Steelers have done with Cameron Heyward is give themselves flexibility, and a question to answer next year. Likely by March, if he has a roster bonus, they will have to decide if he is worth $14-15 million. They knew they couldn’t answer that now, but with the new deal, they have time to judge. And it’s up to Heyward to convince them, one way or the other. That’s why there’s no reason to have an issue with his contract—yet. Because so far, nothing has changed.
