Tag: steelers salary cap

Steelers head into 2025 offseason with massive salary disparity

Not team allocates their salary cap the way the Steelers do.

If you want to know why the Pittsburgh Steelers offense has underperformed, look no further than their spending habits. The Steelers once again head into an offseason with the most ridiculous spending disparity between offense and defense of any team in the NFL.

The Steelers currently have $53 million in salary cap allocated for the offensive side of the football. Pittsburgh’s highest-paid offensive player is tight end Pat Freiermuth. His projected cap hit for 2025 is $12.885 million.

Meanwhile, on defense, it’s a very different story. The Steelers have just north of $166 million wrapped up on the defensive side of the football. That Freiermuth cap hit? It’s peanuts compared to defense. In fact, 12 defensive players will have a bigger hit in 2025. Let that one sink it.

We aren’t sure which is more concerning. How little the Steelers spend on offense or how poorly the defense plays despite spending so much more.

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Steelers could cash in thanks to big salary cap bump for 2025

The Steelers can use every penny of that extra salary cap next offseason.

As much as we all want to just sit back and enjoy the 2024 season, the Pittsburgh Steelers are eyeing a brutal offseason when it comes to contracts. There are multiple guys who will be looking for big paydays and when it comes to the salary cap, it always takes some manipulation.

But according to ESPN reporter Jeremy Fowler, the Steelers and the rest of the NFL could see a nice bump according to buzz coming out of the owner’s meetings.

The NFL conducted its labor seminar during this week’s owners meetings in Irving, Texas,” Fowler wrote. “Team officials would have loved to walk away from the session with a set salary cap for 2025, but they didn’t get one. That usually comes closer to free agency. Still, a few team officials predicted that the cap would land around $275 million, roughly an 8% increase from the $255.4 million figure in 2024.

The Steelers have four positions to address in the offseason where this extra cap space can help. The front office needs to decide between Justin Fields and Russell Wilson as the quarterback of the future, whether they can afford running back Najee Harris and contract extensions for wide receiver George Pickens and edge defender T.J. Watt.

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Leaving money on the table would be a huge mistake for the Steelers

The Steelers cannot afford not to upgrade the wide receiver position.

There’s no denying the Pittsburgh Steelers are in win-now mode. Adding quarterbacks Russell Wilson and Justin Fields in the offseason, both on one-year contracts, means the Steelers are rolling the dice they can win in 2024.

Even the Steelers draft picks are guys who they expect to see on the field and playing at a high level now. Offensive tackle Troy Fautanu, center Zach Frazier, wide receiver Roman Wilson and linebacker Payton Wilson are as pro-ready as any players at their positions.

But along with all that, the Steelers are also holding onto just over $16 million in salary-cap space with some definite roster needs. The primary need is adding talent at wide receiver. Unfortunately at this stage in the game, a big trade is the only option to land Pittsburgh that final piece of the puzzle of offense.

If the Steelers drag their feet too long, the cost of doing business is only going to go up. But with the future unknown about the Steelers quarterback position, it would be better to overpay for a receiver to help make a big push this season than squander so much work by ignoring a need so glaring when it could be taken care of.

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Steelers have lowest-paid starting WR duo in the NFL

The Steelers might want to open up their wallet and add some help at wide receiver.

We have already talked about how the Pittsburgh Steelers have spent less on the offensive side of the football than any other team in the NFL. This is in contrast to Pittsburgh having the most expensive defense in the league.

One striking example of just how the Steelers have underpaid on the offensive side of the football is wide receiver. With the contract extension just signed by Miami Dolphins wide receiver Jaylen Waddle, the Dolphins are now paying $58.25 million per year on their top two wide receivers Waddle and Tyreek Hill.

By comparison, top Steelers wide receivers George Pickens and Roman Wilson are making significantly less. How much less? How about $55.13 million per year less? Pickens and Wilson combine for only $3.12 million per year.

The Steelers have plenty of money to spend and plenty want to see the Steelers use some of that cap space to add a big-time playmaker at wide receiver.

The Steelers only have two offensive players with cap hits of over $10 million this season. That would be starting guards James Daniels and Isaac Seumalo with the third-highest hit being backup center Nate Herbig.

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Steelers salary cap update after Cordarelle Patterson, Dean Lowry signings

The Steelers still have over $11 million in salary cap space.

This has been the busiest offseason in the history of the Pittsburgh Steelers thanks in huge part to General Manager Omar Khan and his aggressive nature when it comes to adding talent. This is something many fans don’t understand after two decades of Kevin Colbert and his ultra-conservative approach.

The most recent additions to the Steelers roster are defensive lineman Dean Lowry and wide receiver Cordarrelle Patterson. Lowry gives the Steelers a strong run defender who should provide some nice depth. Patterson is a do-it-all skill player with tons of experience who should excel as a kick returner with the new rules.

You might think the Steelers are out of money after all the activity this offseason but Khan’s background in working the salary cap has shown itself big time. According to Over The Cap, even after all the moves the Steelers have made, they still have $11,309,907 in cap space.

This is ideal with the 2024 NFL draft coming up. The Steelers have plenty of money to sign their rookie class and even delve into post-draft free agency when teams start cutting salaries.

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Steelers current salary cap situation looking dire

The Steelers have no more money to spend this offseason.

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In the coming weeks, all 32 NFL teams including the Pittsburgh Steelers will have to make some tough decisions as they trim their training camp roster down for the start of the regular season. This has been an opportunity for the Steelers to sign guys who are too expensive for their current teams. The latest example of this is cornerback Joe Haden. But based on current numbers, there may not be a repeat.

NFL reporter Field Yates shared the current salary cap room for all 32 teams and things look bleak for the Steelers. With only $.4488 million in cap space, only three teams have less.

But contrast, the Cleveland Browns are tops in the league with more than $40 million in salary-cap space. There are still plenty of quality free agents on the market and will be more to come and the top teams on these lists might be able to scoop them all up.

Do the Steelers still need any more players? Short of an injury, the easy answer is no. The Steelers probably have bigger concerns on their own roster when it comes to finding out how to pay everyone.

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