The Pittsburgh Steelers are obviously close to signing defensive end Stephon Tuitt to a long-term contract extension ahead of the start of the 2017 regular season.
According to Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network, the team has now restructured the contract of fellow defensive end Cameron Heyward in order to free up some additional salary cap space and that will obviously be needed in order to help afford a new contract for Tuitt.
According to Rapoport, Heyward’s previously scheduled 2017 salary cap charge has dropped from $10.4 million to create more than $3 million in salary cap space.
In all likelihood, the Steelers probably converted $4.225 million of the $5 million base salary that Heyward was scheduled to earn in 2017 into a signing bonus. Such a restructure would clear $3,168,750 in salary cap space this year. If that’s indeed what happened, below is a look at what such a restructure would do to Heyward’s contract.
The net effect of this restructure likely resulted in Heyward’s previously scheduled cap charges in 2018, 2019 and 2020 increasing by $1,056,250.
| YEAR | BASE SALARY | SIGNING BONUS | ROSTER BONUS | CAP CHARGE |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | $775,000 | $3,456,250 | $3,000,000 | $7,231,250 |
| 2018 | $9,000,000 | $3,456,250 | $0 | $12,456,250 |
| 2019 | $8,750,000 | $3,456,250 | $0 | $12,206,250 |
| 2020 | $9,500,000 | $1,056,250 | $0 | $10,556,250 |
