As bad as the Steelers' salary cap situation is thought to be, there are teams in worse shape, the Saints being foremost on that list.
The Saints were projected to be as much as $90-plus million over next year's salary cap and quarterback Drew Brees, who is expected to announce his retirement in the coming weeks, was slated to account for $36 million of that.
Friday, however, Brees agreed to "renegotiate" his contract, adding two more years to the deal with no new money going to Brees. That allowed the Saints to lower his 2021 base salary to $1.075 million and drop his 2021 cap hit to $12 million.
The Saints now will also carry an $11.5 million cap hit on Brees in 2022.
The Steelers are in a similar situation with Ben Roethlisberger, though unlike Brees, the intention is for Roethlisberger to play in 2021. The Steelers and Roethlisberger will begin negotiating that next week.
He currently counts $41.25 million against the team's salary cap in 2021, a situation team president Art Rooney II said two weeks ago the team can't have.
"We've been, I think, up front with Ben in letting him know that we couldn't have him back under the current contract, and so I think he understands we have some work to do there," Rooney said.
Roethlisberger's contract currently calls for him to earn a base salary of $4 million, while he also has a $15 million roster bonus due to him on the third day of the new league year, currently scheduled to begin March 17.
It's the final year of a two-year, $68-million contract extension he signed in 2019.
So, why the $41.25-million cap hit?
The Steelers renegotiated his deal before last season to turn his base salary into signing bonus and create addition cap space.
They did that at the time figuring they could work out another extension with Roethlisberger this year that would lower his cap hit, whether Roethlisberger played in 2021 or not. If Roethlisberger were to not play in 2021, he would still count $22.25 million against the team's salary cap based on bonus and restructure money already paid to him.
The expectation is for the Steelers and Roethlisberger to agree to a deal that lowers his salary to the $1.075 million veteran floor and turn his $15 million roster bonus into straight signing bonus on a two-year extension.
That would lower his cap hit to $28.35 million in 2021, creating nearly $13 million in cap space for the team in 2021. That would allow the Steelers to keep Roethlisberger essentially at a cost of just over $6 million against their cap since he costs $22.25 million if he's released or retires.
The Steelers would then carry a $10 million cap hit into 2022 for Roethlisberger in dead money. The Steelers are expected to have as much as $180 million in cap space available in 2022.
