The old adage says March comes in like a lion and leaves like a lamb.
The lion is going to be roaring pretty steadily at the UMPC-Rooney Sports Complex. The new league year begins March 17, meaning the clock is ticking for the Steelers to get their affairs in order before the 2021 salary cap kicks in.
What that cap will be, however, remains to be seen. The Sports Business Journal reports that the NFL's new TV deals are all but completed and could be announced as soon as this week.
That's good news for teams such as the Steelers who are over the cap going into this period thanks to the pandemic. While the cap won't be going up from its $198.2-million level this season, with the TV deals in place, it also won't be dropping to the $180-million floor announced a couple of weeks ago.
The Steelers currently have $197.2 million in salary cap expenditures, meaning they still have a little bit of work remaining to get under the 2021 cap, but it should be much easier if the cap comes in at, say, $185 to $190 million.
First up will be the tinkering the team needs to do with Ben Roethlisberger's contract. That has to be done by March 17 and on its own should put the team under the cap. Things should heat up on that front rather quickly, as the Steelers need to lower the quarterback's $41.25-million cap hit.
Even a simple extension that converts his $4 million 2021 salary and a $15-million roster bonus he is due March 19 would save the Steelers as much as $14 million against the cap.
What the Steelers do want to do is maximize the amount of money they save on Roethlisberger's deal so that they can sign some of their 19 pending free agents while also having enough cap space available to perhaps sign a veteran outside free agent or two.
And there are some additional creative ways in which they can do that. While simply releasing players is one way to create additional cap space, they also could extend some other players who are entering the final year of their contracts to lower their 2021 cap hits.
Cornerbacks Steven Nelson ($14.42 million cap hit) and Joe Haden ($15.575 million), guard David DeCastro ($14.3 million) and tight end Eric Ebron ($8.5 million) would be high on the list of players to do that with. Adding even a year to the deals of those players could lower their 2021 cap hits, though age must be a consideration there, making deals for Nelson and Ebron, who both have yet to hit 30, perhaps more attractive than extensions for Haden and DeCastro, who are both over 30.
Meanwhile, college pro days also will begin to take place in earnest starting later this week. With no NFL Scouting Combine this year -- that would have taken place last week in Indianapolis -- the pro days take on even more importance as the only way to get a look at many of the draft prospects working out.
For players who opted out of the 2020 season, it's even more important to get eyes on them.
That means GM Kevin Colbert and his scouting staff along with Mike Tomlin and his coaching staff will be logging more frequent flier miles than usual as they attempt to gather as much information as possible in a short period of time.