In a little more than three weeks from today the 2025 NFL year will begin. Additionally, with the Pittsburgh Steelers releasing OLB Preston Smith last week, this Thursday is a perfect time to update the team’s salary cap situation.
For starters, Smith’s release this offseason was expected as he was scheduled to carry a 2025 salary cap charge of $13.4 million. After displacement in the Steelers’ Rule of 51 following the release of Smith, the team effectively cleared $12.56 million in 2025 salary cap space.
As of Feb. 18, the Steelers’ Rule of 51 total, and that includes all dead money charges on the books for 2025, is estimated to be $226,067,699. That being an estimation is mainly due to WR George Pickens having an estimated 2025 base salary of $3.575 million, a result of his qualifying for a Proven Performance Escalator raise. We won’t know the exact amount of that base salary until the NFL releases the official salary cap number for the 2025 league year, which should be very soon.
Currently, $272.5 million is the widely projected salary cap number for the 2025 NFL year. That amount could obviously come in higher or lower than that. However, until we know the exact amount, it is the number I am working off of.
The Steelers, according to my bookkeeping, are currently $53,263,766 under a projected salary cap amount of $272.5 million. That amount also accounts for the Steelers carrying over $6,831,465 in 2024 unused salary cap space.
While $53,263,766 is certainly quite a bit of salary cap space for the Steelers to work with this offseason, their effective cap space is in the neighborhood of $36,985,078 as we sit here on Feb. 18. That effective cap space accounts for other estimated offseason cap charges that must be absorbed much later in the NFL calendar, and specifically closer to the start of the 2025 regular season. Those estimated forthcoming cap charges are itemized in the table above.
Should the Steelers need even more salary cap space later in the offseason, the team can effectively add roughly $15 million of it via traditional contract restructures for TE Pat Freiermuth and OLB Alex Highsmith. Even so, it seems unlikely the Steelers will ultimately need to go the restructuring route this offseason. Should, however, they need to, Freiermuth’s would likely be the only contract restructured.
The Steelers might not be done cutting players prior to the start of the new league year. Smith was previously due an offseason workout bonus so that’s likely why he was jettisoned so early in the offseason. As previously posted, DT Larry Ogunjobi, ILB Cole Holcomb, RB Cordarrelle Patterson, and DE Dean Lowry are prime candidates to be cut prior to the start of the 2025 league year in March. Ogunjobi is due a $3 million roster bonus on March 15 so that makes his situation worth watching.
Should the Steelers ultimately cut all four of Ogunjobi, Holcomb, Patterson, and Lowry prior to the start of the 2025 league year, the cap savings would be $14,940,000 after roster displacement takes place in the current Rule of 51.
The Steelers are likely to extend the contract of OLB T.J. Watt at some point during the offseason. Assuming that happens, Watt’s 2025 salary cap charge, which is currently $30,418,695, should decrease quite a bit. How much it decreases will depend on the structure of the extension and specifically how much the signing bonus ends up being in addition to the total cash Watt receives for the 2025 season.
The Steelers are also likely to tender restricted free agent RB Jaylen Warren in the next few weeks, and if they do so at a second-round level, that amount will come in at around $5.217 million. The Steelers’ two scheduled exclusive rights free agents this offseason, C Ryan McCollum and OLB Jeremiah Moon, will barely impact available salary cap space if both end up getting tendered one-year minimum contracts in the next few weeks.
Currently, the Steelers have a projected Rule of 51 cash total for 2025 of $170,539,329. Personally, I’m expecting the Steelers to spend at least $270 million in cash in 2025. In short, the team is in great shape when it comes to both its salary cap and cash spending totals as we sit here on Feb. 18.
Please let me know if you have any questions about today’s 2025 salary cap update in the comments below. I will make sure to pass along several more 2025 Steelers salary cap updates in the coming weeks and certainly immediately after any more notable moves are made.
ADDED: 2/19/25 – IMPORTANT NFL SALARY CAP UPDATE FOR 2025 AT LINK BELOW:
