One day after releasing starting cornerback Steven Nelson, presumably to clear some salary cap space for the 2021 season, the Steelers added more by restructuring the contract of tight end Eric Ebron on Wednesday.
While the exact details of Ebron’s contract are not know, ESPN’s Brooke Pryor reported that his new deal will save the team $3.9 million in 2021 cap space, so its impact on the upcoming year’s cap can be calculated.
The Steelers had about $4 million in usable salary cap space after releasing Nelson, so the additional savings created by renegotiating with Ebron nearly doubled the team’s cap room.
The Steelers also re-signed outside linebacker Cassius Marsh on Wednesday, and the minimum salary of $1.075 million for an eight-year player will eat into the team’s cap a bit.
After Wednesday’s two moves, the Steelers have an estimated $12.62 million in offseason salary cap space, according to Steelers Now analysis and salary data from the NFLPA, OverTheCap.com and various other sources.
That space does not factor in the amount of money the team needs to complete its offseason business, namely signing draft picks, a practice squad and adding the final two players to the regular season roster from the offseason top 51.
When factoring all of that into the equation, the Steelers have approximately $7 million in usable salary cap space, according to Steelers Now’s estimate.