Salary cap decisions await Steelers, Kevin Colbert as new league year approaches

The Pittsburgh Steelers’ financial situation continued to improve this week, and for the third time this offseason, they didn’t do a single thing to make it happen. They didn’t have to cut a player or extend a contract to provide salary cap relief.

With the NFL announcing an increase of the cap floor to at least $180 million Thursday, it provided the Steelers another $5 million in wiggle room in order to get compliant by the start of the new league year March 17.

Until Thursday, general manager Kevin Colbert, like his other 31 counterparts, was working on the basis of the 2021 cap being no lower than $175 million. For a team that entered the offseason with about $215 million in cap liabilities, the increase of the salary cap floor was appreciated.

That announcement followed the Steelers receiving much-needed cap relief with the retirement of center Maurkice Pouncey and tight end Vance McDonald. That provided a combined savings of $13.2 million.

The Steelers also were permitted to roll over nearly $5 million in unused cap dollars from 2020, providing another measure of financial aid.

Although Colbert is now working under the $180 million estimate, others are expecting the cap to be in the $185 million range. Factor in the cap rollover, and the Steelers could have about $190 million in cap spending. Still, salary-cap tracking website spotrac.com pegs the Steelers needing to shed an additional $14 million to become compliant by March 17 based on the $185 million cap model.

“What we try to do is prepare for the worst situation,” Colbert said Wednesday, a day before the cap floor increased. “We will always work in that mindset. We will play different scenarios and put together different scenarios in the event that is what we are dealing with, and we will try to guesstimate what a certain player may cost us, bet it our own player or someone else.”

Additional room would need to be created if the Steelers want to retain any of their 19 unrestricted free agents or plug holes on the roster with outside free agents. And they would need to free up money to sign a seven-member draft class that could increase to nine after compensatory picks are awarded.

“We know we are up against it,” Colbert said. “We knew we were going to be up against it in a normal year, and we were willing to do the things we did via free agency, extensions, renegotiations, etc., to get to where we were going to be comfortable and trying to make ourselves whole again in 2021.”

When many of those decisions in the 2020 offseason were made — such as signing tight end Eric Ebron, fullback Derek Watt and Stefen Wisniewski, and giving the franchise tag to outside linebacker Bud Dupree — nobody could predict how drastically the coronavirus pandemic would slash stadium revenues.

Based on prior year revenue streams, the $198 million salary cap from 2020 realistically could have increased to $210 million this year. Instead, it has gone down, putting several NFL teams in a financial predicament, the Steelers included. Spotrac.com projects the Steelers as having the fifth-worst salary cap situation of the 32 teams.

“Obviously, we were all dealt a loss through the pandemic, and we will have to deal with that accordingly, and we will,” Colbert said. “It’s not unique to us. There’s probably two-thirds of the league that is facing similar issues. How all that comes together in the next few weeks, we will continue to look at it.”

The easiest way for the Steelers to get under the salary cap would be if quarterback Ben Roethlisberger retires. That would provide $19 million in savings. Roethlisberger has expressed an interest in returning for an 18th season, but team president Art Rooney II and Colbert have said the only way that will happen is if the quarterback’s $41.25 million cap liability is reduced.

Restructuring or extending contracts that would reduce a player’s cap liability in 2021 is another avenue the Steelers will ponder as well as the difficult decision about whether to release a high-salaried player. Inside linebacker Vince Williams and cornerback Joe Haden are potential cap casualties.

Defensive linemen Cameron Heyward and Stephon Tuitt and kicker Chris Boswell are among players who could have their contracts restructured to push cap dollars into 2022, a year in which the Steelers have only about $56 million in salary obligations.

“We have to continually monitor this and work at it every day,” Colbert said, “because it does change actually daily.”