Cam Heyward has plenty of reasons to be motivated for the 2024 season after the amount of doubt tied to his name throughout the offseason. Many thought that Heyward wouldn’t receive a contract extension. Even when it came through as a very team friendly three-year deal, there were still some upset about the money being given to a 35 year old. Not only has Heyward proven his doubters wrong, but he’s having one of his finest seasons.
Pro Bowl voting recently opened up around the NFL with fans able to cast ballots for the best players around the league. Heyward should have no trouble getting in, and he has plenty of motivation to receive a Pro Bowl nod this year.
“Let’s get back to the Pro Bowl. Let’s be busy for the Pro Bowl,” Heyward said via his Not Just Football podcast on YouTube. “It’s one of those things I wanna check off this year. I’d much rather be playing still and saying, ‘Oh, I can’t go, you gotta find somebody new.'”
After Heyward finally signed his extension, he put all of his doubters on notice, saying he kept receipts. You can bet that some of those receipts will find their way onto his social media if he ends up a Pro Bowl and All-Pro selection.
Heyward was a mainstay at the Pro Bowl from 2017 to 2022, being selected in six straight years. His streak ended during his injury-plagued 2023 season, but he is definitely back on track to get his seventh trip to the games.
In 11 games so far, Heyward has 45 total tackles, five sacks, 15 QB hits, six tackles for loss and seven passes defensed. Pro Football Focus also has him credited for 38 total pressures. He already has the second most passes batted down of his career and seems very likely to set a new career high in that category.
He isn’t on pace for a double-digit sack season, but his hopes for one are still alive. He would need five sacks in the final six games to have his fourth career season with 10 or more sacks.
Heyward has stated his desire to have a lasting legacy and one day be enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. He has the six Pro Bowls, three first-team All-Pro honors, one second-team All-Pro honor, and he’s rapidly closing in on the magic number for a defensive tackle in the Hall of Fame, which is 90 sacks. He’ll have a shot to get there by the end of the first year of his three-year deal.
PFF has him down for a 90.5 overall grade this season, including a 90.0 pass-rush grade. Those are both “elite” numbers in its system. That is the highest grade for all interior defensive lineman, just above Dexter Lawrence and Chris Jones. Heyward is absolutely having a great season worthy of the Pro Bowl.
The only way he would be too busy to play in the game is if the Steelers make the Super Bowl. At the beginning of the year that seemed like a pipe dream, but the team is 8-3 entering the final six games with a 5-0 record against teams with winning records. Adding another Pro Bowl, All-Pro, and a first Super Bowl trophy to his resume would almost certainly solidify Heyward as an eventual Hall of Famer.