DK: Cam's no closer to making sense ... but he'll get his dollars
CHRIS HALICKE / DKPS
Cam Heyward speaks with reporters Monday in Latrobe, Pa.
I'm all out on this Cam Heyward thing. Been that way from the beginning, and I'm not about to change after he finally spoke publicly about his push to restructure his contract after the Steelers' penultimate practice of this training camp here at Saint Vincent College.
Addressing reporters who actually cover the team, as opposed to how he allowed the initial word of his hold-in to spread last Thursday, he ...
• Acknowledged that he's having a hold-in.
• Acknowledged that he'll miss games if he doesn't get a new contract to his satisfaction.
• Blamed the Steelers for apparently not taking seriously something he recalled telling them upon the signing of his existing three-year extension less than a year ago.
As he put it, "I understand I signed a contract last year. To be completely honest, when I signed that, I told them, 'When I have an All-Pro year, expect me to come back.' ... I think everyone kind of giggled a little bit, but in my head, I used that as motivation to go out there and prove it."
Yikes.
Look, Cam's awesome. I've had no quarrel ever with Cam. Done nothing but praise him for years, both for his work on the field and in our community. He's been a blessing to the city.
But either he's getting some bad advice from his agent -- which would explain the bumbling way of making this situation known, given that Cam himself's been recognized as a Chief Award winner for his cooperation with professional journalists who cover the Steelers -- or he's taken his longstanding where's-all-the-respect-I'm-due stance way too far.
In the quote above, he's tacitly speaking of Omar Khan and Art Rooney as if they somehow don't respect him. You know, "I used that as motivation." They're the ones who took the risk signing him off a significant injury that required surgery, and at age 35 no less. But they're also the ones who doubt him?
Come on.
And they're also the ones who didn't properly grasp that some throwaway line upon signing the contract should've been taken seriously toward a future re-opening of that extension? In less than a year?
If Cam and/or his agent had legitimately hoped or expected to re-open the extension upon Cam having an All-Pro season -- as he'd very commendably achieve -- then there's this wacky process in the contract world where clauses can be added to that effect.
Did Cam and/or his agent broach such a clause with the Steelers?
Or put forth, maybe, a big-time bonus for being an All-Pro?
It would seem not.
Cam also was adamant here that this situation's been a known one between himself and management since February. The man's no liar, so I believe him. But in the same breath, I can't help but wonder aloud how much his stance might've solidified in the months that followed in watching other defensive linemen -- most of them much younger, by the way -- passing him on the NFL salary chart. Or even in watching T.J. Watt's extension amount to nearly triple his pay on his own team.
In Cam's own phrasing here, "I'm honestly looking to be valued. In my eyes, when I look around at my position, I think I'm like 22nd as a D-tackle and 36th as a D-lineman. I know what I bring to this team and what I'm capable of on and off the field. So, it's hard for me to, after the year I've had, to really justify playing at the number I'm playing at."
Even if he's right, and I've no doubt about that he's deserving of higher pay in an optimal circumstance, it's just such a bad look. And such bad timing.
This is the edition of the Steelers that's supposed to be all about finally winning for Cam, finally winning for T.J., after nearly a decade of uninterrupted playoff failures, with most of those failures easily faulted on the defense, I should add. This is the edition that's added Aaron Rodgers -- who Cam publicly called out before his own signing with, "Do you want to be a Steeler or not?" -- plus DK Metcalf, Jalen Ramsey, Darius Slay, Jonnu Smith ... and an offseason unlike any in franchise history.
All that for Cam to be the problem?
Understand this: Elite professional athletes, almost without exception, are worth every penny they're paid, and almost always more. So my stance has zip to do with Heyward already having been paid most of the $14.75 million he's due this season in the form of a $13.45 million roster bonus he received back in March. I respect the man's career and his relative worth within that career.
Rather, it's about the scenario. And the priority.
And if he wants to talk about value, as he did often here, how about this: Does he value winning a Super Bowl more than whatever statement he and/or his agent are trying to make here?
I can't answer that definitively when a player with career earnings of $131,582,735 can say stuff like, "For me and my family, we value stability. But, at the same time, I value being valued, as well."
Bottom line: Nothing that any of us thinks about this matters.
Because Khan and Rooney will continue to show Cam the respect they always have, they'll rip up an extension before its first birthday, and Cam will take to the field in New Jersey on the first day in September as if nothing happened.
THE ASYLUM
DK: Cam's no closer to making sense ... but he'll get his dollars
CHRIS HALICKE / DKPS
Cam Heyward speaks with reporters Monday in Latrobe, Pa.
I'm all out on this Cam Heyward thing. Been that way from the beginning, and I'm not about to change after he finally spoke publicly about his push to restructure his contract after the Steelers' penultimate practice of this training camp here at Saint Vincent College.
Addressing reporters who actually cover the team, as opposed to how he allowed the initial word of his hold-in to spread last Thursday, he ...
• Acknowledged that he's having a hold-in.
• Acknowledged that he'll miss games if he doesn't get a new contract to his satisfaction.
• Blamed the Steelers for apparently not taking seriously something he recalled telling them upon the signing of his existing three-year extension less than a year ago.
As he put it, "I understand I signed a contract last year. To be completely honest, when I signed that, I told them, 'When I have an All-Pro year, expect me to come back.' ... I think everyone kind of giggled a little bit, but in my head, I used that as motivation to go out there and prove it."
Yikes.
Look, Cam's awesome. I've had no quarrel ever with Cam. Done nothing but praise him for years, both for his work on the field and in our community. He's been a blessing to the city.
But either he's getting some bad advice from his agent -- which would explain the bumbling way of making this situation known, given that Cam himself's been recognized as a Chief Award winner for his cooperation with professional journalists who cover the Steelers -- or he's taken his longstanding where's-all-the-respect-I'm-due stance way too far.
In the quote above, he's tacitly speaking of Omar Khan and Art Rooney as if they somehow don't respect him. You know, "I used that as motivation." They're the ones who took the risk signing him off a significant injury that required surgery, and at age 35 no less. But they're also the ones who doubt him?
Come on.
And they're also the ones who didn't properly grasp that some throwaway line upon signing the contract should've been taken seriously toward a future re-opening of that extension? In less than a year?
If Cam and/or his agent had legitimately hoped or expected to re-open the extension upon Cam having an All-Pro season -- as he'd very commendably achieve -- then there's this wacky process in the contract world where clauses can be added to that effect.
Did Cam and/or his agent broach such a clause with the Steelers?
Or put forth, maybe, a big-time bonus for being an All-Pro?
It would seem not.
Cam also was adamant here that this situation's been a known one between himself and management since February. The man's no liar, so I believe him. But in the same breath, I can't help but wonder aloud how much his stance might've solidified in the months that followed in watching other defensive linemen -- most of them much younger, by the way -- passing him on the NFL salary chart. Or even in watching T.J. Watt's extension amount to nearly triple his pay on his own team.
In Cam's own phrasing here, "I'm honestly looking to be valued. In my eyes, when I look around at my position, I think I'm like 22nd as a D-tackle and 36th as a D-lineman. I know what I bring to this team and what I'm capable of on and off the field. So, it's hard for me to, after the year I've had, to really justify playing at the number I'm playing at."
Even if he's right, and I've no doubt about that he's deserving of higher pay in an optimal circumstance, it's just such a bad look. And such bad timing.
This is the edition of the Steelers that's supposed to be all about finally winning for Cam, finally winning for T.J., after nearly a decade of uninterrupted playoff failures, with most of those failures easily faulted on the defense, I should add. This is the edition that's added Aaron Rodgers -- who Cam publicly called out before his own signing with, "Do you want to be a Steeler or not?" -- plus DK Metcalf, Jalen Ramsey, Darius Slay, Jonnu Smith ... and an offseason unlike any in franchise history.
All that for Cam to be the problem?
Understand this: Elite professional athletes, almost without exception, are worth every penny they're paid, and almost always more. So my stance has zip to do with Heyward already having been paid most of the $14.75 million he's due this season in the form of a $13.45 million roster bonus he received back in March. I respect the man's career and his relative worth within that career.
Rather, it's about the scenario. And the priority.
And if he wants to talk about value, as he did often here, how about this: Does he value winning a Super Bowl more than whatever statement he and/or his agent are trying to make here?
I can't answer that definitively when a player with career earnings of $131,582,735 can say stuff like, "For me and my family, we value stability. But, at the same time, I value being valued, as well."
Bottom line: Nothing that any of us thinks about this matters.
Because Khan and Rooney will continue to show Cam the respect they always have, they'll rip up an extension before its first birthday, and Cam will take to the field in New Jersey on the first day in September as if nothing happened.
Take that to the bank.
Oh, and get it in writing.
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