The Pittsburgh Steelers have been in the news quite a bit throughout the 2025 offseason as the organization has made quite a few changes. The first pieces of the hectic offseason included a pair of moves at wide receiver which brought in DK Metcalf, while the franchise parted ways with George Pickens. Then there was the entire fiasco where the franchise was waiting on Aaron Rodgers to sign, which he ultimately did before mandatory minicamp. Pittsburgh then had to get a new extension done with TJ Watt, and now the organization is dealing with Cam Heyward as he looks for a raise.
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Steelers captains Cam Heyward (left) and TJ Watt (right) during 2025 training camp in Latrobe, PA.
News broke ahead of Pittsburgh's first preseason game that Heyward was looking for a restructured deal after signing an extension ahead of the 2024 season. Chris Boswell is also hunting for a new deal, so General Manager Omar Khan has some contractual business to accomplish before the season begins. According to Spotrac, the Steelers currently have roughly $35 million in cap space for the 2025 season, which means the money is there for both Boswell and Heyward.
Boswell is looking for a new extension, which could free up additional cap space, while Heyward is looking for a restructured deal that pays him more during the 2025 season. The cap space is there for Heyward, which gives him some sort of leverage over the organization in these negotiations. However, NFL organization's have the ability to choose for their unused cap space to roll over from year to year. So, if the Steelers do not give Heyward any new money for the 2025 season, it means more money will be available in 2026.
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Steelers Head Coach Mike Tomlin (left) and All-Pro DT Cam Heyward (97) walk together during a road game against the Buffalo Bills.
Heyward was an All-Pro during the 2024 season, and he would like to be paid in a way that reflects that while also putting him near the top of the list when it comes to highest-paid defensive tackles. This would likely mean for the Steelers to add some extra money onto Heyward's base salary for the 2025 season, which currently sits at just $1.3 million. However, his cap hit for the year is $19.65 million, so he is still being paid handsomely.
The number the Steelers would need to add on to Heyward's deal to end his hold-in is unclear, but it is reasonable to think it would be somewhere in the $6 to $7 million range, which would put him into the upper echelon of the highest-paid defensive tackles. The only issue is that the Steelers currently only have a projected $32 million in cap space for the 2026 season. Giving $6 or $7 million to Heyward in 2025 would mean less money to roll over for 2026, which gives the organization less flexibility when it comes to improving the roster in the future.
Steelers Could Still Comfortably Give Heyward A Raise
There are a few ways to look at this whole situation, and giving Heyward a raise still shouldn't be hard -- even if the franchise is worried about losing the cap space for the 2026 season. An extension for Boswell could be done in a way that lowers his cap hit for the 2026 season, which could somewhat cancel out the negative side effects of a raise for the veteran defensive lineman. In addition to that strategy, the cap is going to jump up again going into 2026.
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Pittsburgh Steelers Head Coach Mike Tomlin and kicker Chris Boswell (9) during 2025 training camp in Latrobe, PA.
The NFL's salary cap has increased by nearly $100 million over the last four seasons, and the figure jumped $24 million from 2024 to 2025. Another substantial increase should be expected going into 2026, which should put Pittsburgh at ease when handing out a raise to Heyward, or getting a deal done with Boswell.
What do you think about Pittsburgh worrying about the cap space in 2026 when giving a raise to Heyward? Let us know in the comments below!
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