The Steelers have restructured the contract of quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, the fifth player to rework his deal that has allowed the team to shave approximately $20 million from the salary cap, the Post-Gazette has been told.
Roethlisberger signed a new three-year, $80 million contract in April.
The other Steelers to restructure their deals are tight end Vance McDonald, cornerbacks Joe Haden and Steven Nelson and kicker Chris Boswell. They had their base salaries for 2020 converted into signing bonuses, allowing the Steelers to push their cap money into future seasons.
In addition, with the retirement of guard Ramon Foster and the release of three players on Monday – linebackers Mark Barron and Anthony Chickillo and receiver Johnny Holton – the Steelers saved $15 million in cap money. With the restructures, that means they shaved $35 million from their salary cap in one day.
But that may not be the end of it. A team source said there is “more to come over the next couple days” before the Steelers have to be in compliance with the $198.2 million salary cap on Wednesday — the first official day of the league’s 2020 season.
That could include adding a player or two in free agency — either an offensive lineman to ease the loss of Foster or a defensive lineman to help replace nose tackle Javon Hargrave, who signed a three-year, $39 million contract with the Philadelphia Eagles.
Gerry Dulac: gdulac@post-gazette.com and Twitter @gerrydulac
First Published: March 17, 2020, 1:52 p.m.
