By: Michael Stiffler, @Stiffeezy_ on Twitter
SteelerNation.com
This is not the type of news Steeler Nation needed heading into the weekend. Reported first by ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler, Cam Heyward doesn’t feel confident where he and the Pittsburgh Steelers stand on a contract extension.
Heyward’s agent Michael Perrett explained “I thought we'd be further along in the process. In a normal year, we might be. The current situation [with the pandemic] has led to a lot of uncertainty.” Although he is unhappy Perrett said Heyward will not hold out.
There are pluses and minuses to this report. Firstly and most importantly, he won’t holdout and miss any games intentionally. This is a huge plus for the Steelers defense as they will have their leader heading into the season. Since Heyward signed his initial six-year $59.2 million dollar extension, he has averaged 7.8 sacks, 50.8 tackles, per season. He is a 2x All-pro and 3x pro bowler.
The bad side is, this news gives Steelers fans a harsh realization of next off season. With the current pandemic going on the salary cap is projected to be as low as $175 million next season, which is roughly $20 million less than this year. Heyward is not the only big name free agent next offseason. This includes players who are key to the team this year like James Conner, Juju Smith-Schuster, Bud Dupree, Alejandro Villanueva, Matt Feiler, Mike Hilton, Zach Banner, and Cam Sutton.
On top of salary cap concerns, the Steelers rarely do contract extensions during the season. With training camp underway, hopefully Heyward being back in the building accelerates talks with the front office in the next few weeks.
Do you think a deal gets done before the season begins? Drop a comment below!
