A week from today, NFL free agency will kick off in earnest.
And now, teams know exactly what kind of confines under which they will be working. The league announced to teams Wednesday that the cap will be set at $182.5 million for the 2021 season per multiple reports. That's $15.7 million lower than the $198.2 million cap for 2020.
With that in mind, the Steelers continued to make moves to shore up their roster. Wide receiver and return man Ray-Ray McCloud, signed by the Steelers during training camp last year, was set to become a restricted free agent. The Steelers could have picked up an option on him for at least $2.1 million.
But with the Steelers unlikely to do that because of their cap restraints, they instead agreed to a one-year deal with McCloud for the league minimum and a small signing bonus. The deal was reported by the NFL Network.
McCloud won the team's return job in 2020, averaging 10.3 yards on punt returns and 23.1 on kickoffs. He also had 20 catches for 77 yards and four carries for 65 yards.
Now, the Steelers must try to work out similar deals with fellow restricted free agent linebacker Ola Adeniyi. Offensive tackle Jerald Hawkins also is set to become a restricted free agent, but the Steelers are likely to allow him to hit the open market.
At issue for the Steelers and their restricted free agents are the tender offers the team would have to give them to keep them from becoming unrestricted. The minimum tender cost this season is $2.1 million, while placing a second-round tender on a player -- meaning a team would get a second-round pick if he signs elsewhere -- is $3.3 million.
With the cap coming in lower than expected -- many expected it to be at least $185 million -- the Steelers have just over $5 million in available cap space.
And not only do the Steelers have to work out some kind of deal with Adeniyi, they also must still make a contract offer to exclusive rights free agent linebacker Robert Spillane. The team has signed its other two exclusive rights free agents, J.C. Hassenauer and Marcus Allen, in the past few days.
Exclusive rights free agents aren't truly free agents since they are unable to negotiate with another team unless their current team renounces the rights to that player.
All teams must be under the $182.5-million cap by 4 p.m. next Wednesday, which also is when the new league year and free agency begin.
As part of creating additional cap space, the Steelers also restructured the contract of fullback Derek Watt, creating an additional $880,000 in cap space.
