Steelers Contract with Larry Ogunjobi worth $8M, Including Incentives

The one-year contract for new Pittsburgh Steelers defensive tackle Larry Ogunjobi is worth up to $8 million, including incentives, according to a report by Ian Rapoport of NFL Network.

Ogunjobi’s deal came after he he previously had a three-year $40.5 million contract with the Chicago Bears voided due to a failed physical. The 28-year-old suffered a foot injury in the playoffs with the Cincinnati Bengals that required surgery. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported that it was a for a Lisfranc joint injury, and that Ogunjobi’s foot was the reason for the failed physical, but that the team expects him to be ready for training camp next month.

The specific details of Ogunjobi’s contract will be required in order to calculate his salary cap hit. Incentives are categorized by NFL rule as either likely or unlikely to be earned based on the player’s prior-season performance. Likely-to-be-earned incentives count against the current year’s salary cap unless they can no longer be eared. Unlikely-to-be-earned incentives never count until the following season.

Because Ogunjobi had a career year statistically in 2021, it is unlikely he has too many incentives that will be calculated as unlikely to be earned.

The Steelers have been reluctant to use incentive-heavy contracts in the past, but also used incentives with the team’s free-agent contract with quarterback Mitch Trubisky earlier this offseason. That change could be part of new general manager Omar Khan’s growing influence over the organization,.

Even if all of Ogunjobi’s $8 million in salary obligations count against the team’s 2022 salary cap, the Steelers will still have over $4 million in effective salary cap space for the upcoming season after signing the free agent defensive tackle and first-round quarterback Kenny Pickett this week.

In addition to certain types of incentives, Steelers could also use voidable years to reduce the 2022 cap hit for Ogunjobi, as they did with multiple players in the 2021 offseason. Voidable years extend salary cap hits from deferred signing bonuses into additional seasons beyond the length of contract agreement.