The Steelers got their biggest offseason move completed when they restructured the contract of Ben Roethlisberger to trim $15.3 million off their 2021 salary cap.
The next moves for the team will begin this week when the league finally releases what the 2021 salary cap will be. NFL teams have a rough estimate of what the cap will come in at, but those negotiations have continued as the league has continued to work feverishly to complete extensions on its TV deals that could affect the 2021 cap.
Those deals are mostly done, but how much the networks will pay for the increase to a 17-game schedule for 2021 have slowed down negotiations a bit -- as have reduced TV revenues.
The cap won't come in at less than $180 million and is expected to be closer to $185 million or higher. For the Steelers, a $185 million cap would mean they currently have around $8 million in cap space, a nice number for a team that was more than $30 million over that total just a few weeks ago.
But the retirements of Vance McDonald and Maurkice Pouncey and restructured deals for Roethlisberger and defensive tackle Cam Heyward have put the Steelers in a much better position as the start of the new league year -- when teams must be cap compliant -- looms on March 17.
That's also the start of free agency, which for the Steelers means as many as 23 players could be hitting the open market.
The Steelers took care of one of those players last week when they signed exclusive rights free agent center J.C. Hassenauer to a one-year deal. But that was largely a foregone conclusion since exclusive rights free agents are unable to negotiate with other teams unless their current one renounces the rights.
Expect similar deals to be struck with exclusive rights free agents Robert Spillane and Marcus Allen, as well.
Those kind of deals have negligible effect on the salary cap, however.
Ones that will be more meaningful will be potential new deals for any of the team's 19 pending unrestricted free agents.
The Steelers are unlikely to reach deals with any of their high-priced potential free agents such as Bud Dupree or JuJu Smith-Schuster, but they could make a pitch to keep some players on more cost-effective deals.
The Steelers have begun to reach out to the agents of some of those players to see if they can get something done before free agency begins.
That group would include offensive tackle Zach Banner, nose tackle Tyson Alualu and safety Sean Davis. The Steelers also could make a pitch to keep either Cam Sutton or Mike Hilton at cornerback before they hit the open market. They also could try to sign offensive lineman Matt Feiler.
Banner signed a one-year $1.75-million deal in a similar circumstance last season, then won the starting right tackle job in training camp. But he suffered a season-ending ACL injury in the regular season opener.
He should be ready to go for the start of training camp this year and there is a belief in the organization that he could shift over to left tackle this season to help offset the loss of Alejandro Villanueva, who also is headed toward unrestricted free agency.
A short-team deal of one or two years that pays Banner a similar salary to what he earned in 2020 would make sense.
Alualu earned $2.875 million in 2020 in the final season of a two-year deal he signed in 2019. The 34-year-old shifted to nose tackle last season and had a strong year. Another two-year deal could be structured in a way in which Alualu can receive an increase in new money at a lower cap hit.
Davis could be brought back on a veteran minimum deal with a small signing bonus to provide depth behind starters Minkah Fitzpatrick and Terrell Edmunds.
The Steelers also could fit either Sutton, Hilton or Feiler under the cap without making another move if the deal is structured the right way. According to Spotrac.com, Sutton's market value is $7.2 million per season, while Hilton's is $7.8 million per year. The web site hasn't calculated a value for Feiler, but as a player capable of playing offensive tackle, he can likely get between $5 and $6 million on the open market.
A deal that pays one of those three the veteran minimum salary in the first year with a reasonable signing bonus and larger base salaries in subsequent years could make them easy to fit under the salary cap in 2021.
The Steelers also could make a preemptive move before free agency begins, as well, such as signing a player who has been released since the end of the season. Those players are free agents now and teams don't have to wait for the start of the new league year to acquire them.
Those players also are attractive because they don't count against the free agency compensatory pick formula. For example, centers Nick Martin (Texans) and B.J. Finney (Bengals) have been released. Adding either would help offset the retirement of Pouncey and help fill a need before the start of free agency, though the Steelers could simply wait and allow the first wave of free agents to sign before bargain shopping at the position.
The final piece to the puzzle will be what to do with the team's restricted free agents, linebacker Ola Adeniyi, wide receiver Ray-Ray McCloud and offensive tackle Jerald Hawkins.
Adeniyi is the team's top backup at outside linebacker, while McCloud was the Steelers' top return man in 2020. Hawkins was signed for depth after Banner was injured.
But if the Steelers tender offers to those players, they would have to do so at a substantial raise. The Steelers obviously won't place a first-round tender on any of those players. The cost of doing that would be an estimated $4.76 million.
A second-round tender would be $3.384 million and would mean if another team signs that player, the Steelers would receive a second-round pick in return. That seems unlikely for any of the three, as well.
A first-right of refusal tender is $2.133 million and would simply allow the Steelers to match any offer those players would receive on the open market.
The Steelers could decline to tender an offer to any of the three, but they would become unrestricted free agents. They could, however, re-sign any of the three to lesser deals.
