The Pittsburgh Steelers added a few new contracts of significance to their salary cap rolls during OTAs, signing first-round pick Troy Fautanu to his rookie contract and adding veteran defensive back Cam Sutton.
The team still have significant salary cap flexibility after their latest moves, and could be looking to sign or trade for a wide receiver over the summer. So where does the team’s salary cap situation currently stand?
The Steelers currently have $16.5 million in offseason salary cap space available, according to Steelers Now’s estimate. That’s down from $19.3 million in our last update in April.
That doesn’t include several expenses that we know are coming up quickly. The Steelers have yet to sign second-round pick Zach Frazier, a move that we anticipate costing less than $450,000 against the cap, when factoring Top 51 displacement. After minicamp, the team’s workout bonuses for players on rookie contracts will also be finalized. There is a placeholder value of $907,200, but the final is usually not the full amount.
So if the Steelers want to make a move in the next few weeks, Omar Khan will have nearly $15 million in salary cap space to work with.
There will be more expenses as the Steelers near the regular season, that will take up most of that space. The team will need approximately $1.9 million for the final two spots on the roster, $4 million to sign a practice squad, and leave as much as $10 million in reserve for players on the injured reserve list and as an in-season buffer. Functionally, the Steelers are about $1 million over their season-start cap figure, when taking all of that into account.
But they can also create almost $30 million in additional cap space with contract restructures and/or extensions. An extension for Cam Heyward could save nearly $10 million in 2024, while restructures for Minkah Fitzpatrick and T.J. Watt could net another $18.8 million.
While those moves would increase their cap commitment for 2025 and beyond, the Steelers currently have the fourth-least amount of salary committed for the 2025 season of any NFL team.
So the Steelers have plenty of ability to use all of their current offseason salary cap space, and still take care of upcoming expenses.
That could come in the form of a big splash at wide receiver, or it could also mean contract extensions with first-year raises for players like Pat Freiermuth or Najee Harris.
PITTSBURGH STEELERS 2024 SALARY CAP BREAKDOWN
| Functional cap space (est.) | -1,016,723 | T.J. Watt | $30,418,694 |
| Cam Heyward | $22,406,250 | ||
| Estimated 2024 NFL salary cap | $255,400,000 | Minkah Fitzpatrick | $21,355,000 |
| Steelers 2023 cap rollover | $2,340,192 | Larry Ogunjobi | $13,283,333 |
| Steelers 2024 salary cap (est.) | $257,740,192 | James Daniels | $11,166,668 |
| Isaac Seumalo | $10,191,666 | ||
| Top 51 salaries | $216,189,707 | Cole Holcomb | $7,640,000 |
| Dead cap hits | $24,553,312* | Alex Highsmith | $6,727,000 |
| Patrick Queen | $6,113,333 | ||
| Offseason cap space (est.) | $16,477,173 | Donte Jackson | $6,000,000 |
| Nate Herbig | $5,460,000 | ||
| Draft pool | $443,229 | Chris Boswell | $4,720,000 |
| End of rule of 51 | $1,971,224 | Elandon Roberts | $4,667,500 |
| Practice squad (est.) | $4,000,000 | Najee Harris | $4,151,460 |
| In-season buffer/IR (est.) | $10,000,00 | Damontae Kazee | $3,875,000 |
| Workout bonuses (placeholder) | $907,200 | Broderick Jones | $3,778,719 |
| Dan Moore Jr. | $3,540,475 | ||
| Potential future savings | Justin Fields | $3,233,448 | |
| Heyward extension | $9,860,000 | Troy Fautanu | $2,737,326 |
| Fitzpatrick restructure | $8,860,000 | Miles Killebrew | $2,255,000 |
| Watt restructure | $9,965,000 | DeShon Elliott | $2,250,000 |
| Cordarelle Patterson | $2,250,000 | ||
| Joey Porter Jr. | $2,185,988 | ||
| Montravius Adams | $2,125,000 | ||
| Cameron Johnston | $2,083,333 | ||
| Pat Freiermuth | $1,918,057 | ||
| Dean Lowry | $1,875,000 | ||
| George Pickens | $1,841,506 | ||
| Keeanu Benton | $1,666,619 | ||
| DeMarvin Leal | $1,414,608 | ||
| Darnell Washington | $1,216,798 | ||
| Russell Wilson | $1,210,000 | ||
| Christian Kuntz | $1,163,333 | ||
| Kyle Allen | $1,152,500 | ||
| Van Jefferson | $1,152,500 | ||
| Scotty Miller | $1,152,500 | ||
| Quez Watkins | $1,152,500 | ||
| Isaiahh Loudermilk | $1,135,072 | ||
| Calvin Austin III | $1,111,084 | ||
| Nick Herbig | $1,083,231 | ||
| Breiden Fehoko | $1,055,000 | ||
| Denzel Mims | $1,055,000 | ||
| La’Mical Perine | $1,055,000 | ||
| Matthew Wright | $1,055,000 | ||
| Roman Wilson | $1,044,576 | ||
| MyCole Pruitt | $1,035,000 | ||
| Connor Heyward | $1,023,806 | ||
| Payton Wilson | $1,017,511 | ||
| Mark Robinson | $1,013,089 | ||
| Jaylen Warren | $989,000 | ||
| Mason McCormick | $986,224 |
*Dead cap hits currently account for the prorated signing bonus of players not among the top 51 contracts.
Salary figures from Steelers Now sources, the NFLPA, and OvertheCap.com.