With the George Pickens trade in the rearview mirror, the Steelers have more room under the salary cap.
Not that the Steelers were struggling for cap space, and that was far from any reason why they opted to trade away such a talented player. Even so, the trade still had an impact on the team's cap heading into the 2025 season.
By trading Pickens, the Steelers saved $3.656 million and absorbed $522,670 of dead cap, according to OverTheCap.com. Following that move, the Steelers currently have an estimated $34.1 million in cap space. That includes all six of the signed draft picks to date, with third-round pick Kaleb Johnson carrying the highest cap hit at $1.159 million in 2025.
That cap room still has to be used for signing first-round pick Derrick Harmon, who's the only player from the draft class yet to sign. That also needs to include roughly $6-8 million for breathing room during the season. In the offseason, only the Top 51 contracts are counted toward the salary cap. During the season, every dollar is accounted for. So, when the team has to bring on a player midseason to replace an injured player, that counts toward the cap as much as every other contract. That's what that breathing room is for.
In addition, there's still the whole Aaron Rodgers will-he-or-won't he fiasco. However, Rodgers has already said wherever he plays isn't about the money and even said he'd play for $10 million. That could just be a way to say he doesn't care about the money. But, either way, the Steelers have plenty of room to add him.
No, T.J. Watt's eventual extension won't hurt the team's cap for 2025. In fact, it'll only help it. Watt's 2025 cap hit is a team-high $30.42 million. Because of the way the Steelers structure contracts and extensions, it's almost certain his 2025 cap hit will be lower once the deal is signed. That's common practice, and even happened as recently with DK Metcalf. His 2025 cap hit went from $18 million to $11 million after he signed his extension with the Steelers.
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THE ASYLUM
Chris Halicke
8:15 pm - 05.16.2025South SideSalary cap update after Pickens trade
With the George Pickens trade in the rearview mirror, the Steelers have more room under the salary cap.
Not that the Steelers were struggling for cap space, and that was far from any reason why they opted to trade away such a talented player. Even so, the trade still had an impact on the team's cap heading into the 2025 season.
By trading Pickens, the Steelers saved $3.656 million and absorbed $522,670 of dead cap, according to OverTheCap.com. Following that move, the Steelers currently have an estimated $34.1 million in cap space. That includes all six of the signed draft picks to date, with third-round pick Kaleb Johnson carrying the highest cap hit at $1.159 million in 2025.
That cap room still has to be used for signing first-round pick Derrick Harmon, who's the only player from the draft class yet to sign. That also needs to include roughly $6-8 million for breathing room during the season. In the offseason, only the Top 51 contracts are counted toward the salary cap. During the season, every dollar is accounted for. So, when the team has to bring on a player midseason to replace an injured player, that counts toward the cap as much as every other contract. That's what that breathing room is for.
In addition, there's still the whole Aaron Rodgers will-he-or-won't he fiasco. However, Rodgers has already said wherever he plays isn't about the money and even said he'd play for $10 million. That could just be a way to say he doesn't care about the money. But, either way, the Steelers have plenty of room to add him.
No, T.J. Watt's eventual extension won't hurt the team's cap for 2025. In fact, it'll only help it. Watt's 2025 cap hit is a team-high $30.42 million. Because of the way the Steelers structure contracts and extensions, it's almost certain his 2025 cap hit will be lower once the deal is signed. That's common practice, and even happened as recently with DK Metcalf. His 2025 cap hit went from $18 million to $11 million after he signed his extension with the Steelers.
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