Steelers Restructure Contract of DL Stephon Tuitt, Save $6.3m in 2021 Cap Space

The Steelers have restructured the contract of defensive lineman Stephon Tuitt to create additional cap space for the 2021 season, according to a report by Field Yates of ESPN.

Tuitt, 28, converted $7.925 million of base salary into a signing bonus, creating $6.34 million in 2021 cap space. In order to create the additional space, the Steelers added three voidable years to the end of Tuitt’s contract.

He will now count for just over $8.6 million against the 2021 salary cap and is scheduled to count for $13.976 million against the 2022 cap and leave a $4.755 million dead cap hit after his contract expires in 2023.

Tuitt started 15 games for the Steelers in 2020, and had a breakout season, setting career highs in sacks (11), quarterback hits (25) and tackles for loss (10). He also had three passes defended, forced two fumbles and recorded 45 tackles.

Tuitt went through a personal tragedy this summer when his brother was killed in a hit-and-run vehicle-pedestrian accident in Georgia that remains unsolved. After missing a portion of OTAs and minicamp, Tuitt has worked slowly back into the mix during training camp.

Kicker Chris Boswell is the only player left on the roster that the Steelers can re-work with a traditional contract restructuring. Boswell could save the team another $1 million or so by turning salary into signing bonus.