Would Cam Heyward really skip regular-season games without a contract resolution?
Due an average of $14.5 million over the next two years, Cam Heyward wants more money, but is he willing to skip games? Speaking to reporters earlier this week after reports leaked of his hold-in, he didn’t rule it out. Thus far, he has done nothing more extreme than skip a couple OTAs and sit out some training camp work.
My sense is Heyward believes the Steelers leaked the story, which is why he decided to address it publicly. From his perspective, he felt he had to do what he had to do last year with the expectation of course correcting his contract last year. In hindsight, perhaps he regrets signing an extension below his market value, especially if he expected to return to the negotiating table.
Of course, the Steelers could have easily addressed Heyward’s issues last year, if they were like most teams. With rare exceptions, the Steelers stubbornly refuse to offer incentives in contracts, those exceptions being quarterbacks. If, for example, Pittsburgh had added a $2 million Pro Bowl incentive and another $4 million for making All-Pro, would Cam Heyward be happy right now? Perhaps, in which case both sides have to share the blame.
Heyward told reporters that the Steelers wanted him to take a pay cut last year. Instead, they gave him an extension that paid him nothing extra in 2024 and with no guaranteed money in 2025 and 2026 at the time of signing. And his new salary represented a more than 30-percent reduction in salary. That’s relative to the APY of the extension he signed in 2020, adjusted for cap inflation. In 2024 dollars, he was playing on a contract that would have been worth over $21 milllion APY. Now he’s playing for $14.5 million.
And thus, the question stands: is Cam Heyward willing to skip games to make his point? And perhaps equally importantly, would it make any difference to the Steelers if he did? It depends, I think, on how serious he is. If he is prepared to sit out the entire season, the Steelers knows it could tank their year. Aaron Rodgers wouldn’t be happy about that. As so many of his detractors have pointed out, Heyward has made well over $100 million in his career. That gives him a bargaining chip if he’s willing to take losses and stand on principle.
The Steelers are rebuilding, or reloading, whatever they feel the need to call it, after another disappointment last season. Though they limped into the playoffs, they once again embarrassed themselves therein.
Just like last year, the biggest question hanging over the Steelers is the quarterback question. While they made a lot of moves, they have to put the pieces together. The 2025 NFL Draft class could play a big role, but veteran additions will be paramount.
But we still have a long training camp ahead for Steelers football. We survived the Aaron Rodgers situation and moved on to other things–other dramas sometimes. Now it’s about evaluating the roster in place and filling holes as we go.
