If you happen to be one of the lucky few to play in the NFL, especially for the Pittsburgh Steelers, one of your overall goals is to make as much money as possible while you can. Whether you end up playing for them or any other franchise, one should always strive to “secure the bag.” However, there have been a few instances of players accepting less money to stick around in the Steel City. Let's review.
1) Connections Over Cash
To kick things off, we will start with the most recent example in JuJu Smith-Schuster.
Photo via Twitter: @JSKO_PHOTO
During the 2021 off-season, Smith-Schuster became a free agent for their first time in his young pro career. While assessing the waters on the open market, there were offers on the table for him from teams like the AFC North rival Baltimore Ravens, as well as the Philadelphia Eagles and the Kansas City Chiefs. Even though everyone else was offering more years and more money to play for them, Smith-Schuster returned to the Steelers on a one-year worth $8 million dollars. As for the reason he took this offer, Smith-Schuster explained it in an interview on the Michael Irvin Podcast:
“Just seeing K.C. and bro, Andy Reid was just calling me, and he was sending me Lombardi Trophy pictures like constantly. We had a good talk, so it would’ve been K.C. after the Steelers. Being somewhere in an atmosphere and environment, knowing where the team knows you, they know your history, they know how you are, how to use you and stuff like that. Coming back and knowing that I would have Ben Roethlisberger back for one more year and playing my last year, it was just like, ‘Yo, I’m gonna take my chance, I’m gonna play with Ben.’”
Smith-Schuster also commented on how he did not come back solely to play with Ben Roethlisberger in his final season, but because of the connections he made with the city and the coaching staff.
“But I think with me it’s more so staying home, staying loyal. In my situation, we have a new offensive coordinator, Ben’s coming back, my relationship with my receiver coach, Ike Hilliard, is amazing. You can’t beat that.”
Speaking of Roethlisberger, he also took a pay cut, albeit for a slightly different reason.
2) A Reconstruction for Roster Aid
During the 2021 off-season, Roethlisberger was set to make around $41 million, which would have caused Pittsburgh to take a substantially large hit to their salary cap.
Photo via Twitter: @JSKO_PHOTO
Instead of allowing that to happen, the team and their quarterback reconstructed the deal, reducing Roethlisberger’s salary by $5 million. As for why he decided to take a pay cut, Roethlisberger made the reason simple, to help the team out anyway he could:
“I told them I want to help the team out however we can, and so I went to them and told them that I would do whatever I could to help the team sign the guys that are going to help us win football games. In order to do that, to get guys here, I felt that it was necessary to do that."
This was not the first time a player restructured their contract to help the Steelers with their salary cap.
3) Chump Change for A Champion
During the 2005 off-season, when the Steelers were looking at ways to get under the salary cap, one of the most crucial factors was what decision running back Jerome Bettis was planning to take with his career.
Jerome Bettis during Steelers media day for Super Bowl XL at Ford Field in Detroit, Michigan on January 31, 2006. | Photo by G. N. Lowrance
Bettis was 33 years old at the time and was approaching his 13th year in the league, leading to speculation about his retirement. Not only that, but his contract showed he was due to make an estimated $4.5 million in 2005 with an increase to around $5.5 million for 2006. Bettis would eventually make the decision to play one more season and agreed to take a $3 million pay cut to do so.
"The role for me will be the same as it was last year. I'll come in and I'll spell Duce [Staley] when he needs a blow. When we get down in the red zone, the goal line, then that's when I'll take over."
Bettis acknowledged that he felt the team had a chance to play in the Super Bowl that season, and since the game was slated to take place in Detroit, Bettis’s hometown, it was all the incentives he really needed to take less money.
"I think the team has a chance to be a Super Bowl-contending football team. If they weren't, I wouldn't come back, I wouldn't come back just to play. I'm coming back to try to win a championship. I really think this team has the makeup to do that. That the Super Bowl is in Detroit, yeah, that's a factor, that's something I looked at. It would be great to finish where I started."
As we would later find out, Bettis indeed made the right decision. The Steelers would make it to Detroit and win Super Bowl XL. One can only imagine how history would have changed for both Bettis and the team if he had not taken the pay cut.
These are just some of the examples of players willing to take less money to remain in Pittsburgh. While each of them impacted the franchise on varying levels, the constant through it all was that players were willing to stay with the Steelers instead of going elsewhere, in hopes of helping the team be successful. Hopefully, this trend will continue in the future when/if it is needed.
Would you ever take a pay cut to help your team? Be sure to let us know in the comments down below.
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