Hardwood timber
Last Saturday, the Pittsburgh Steelers saw their 2024 season end as a result of them losing to the Baltimore Ravens in a Wild Card game. On the heels of that happening, the team came to terms with 17 players on Reserve/Future contracts Tuesday. The additional 17 players being signed now give the team 56 players under contract for 2025, and that means we have our first offseason Rule of 51 to work with as part of looking at the team’s initial salary cap situation.
So, where do we start with this initial 2025 salary cap lookahead for the Steelers? First, I should point out that Over the Cap has the 2025 NFL salary cap amount projected at $272.5 million. That is probably more on the conservative side. Former NFL agent Joel Corry is projecting a 2025 salary cap amount of $275 million. While we won’t know the real amount until a few weeks ahead of the 2025 NFL year starting in March, Over the Cap’s projection is a good place to start this far out, as it is more conservative.
Next, the Steelers appear poised to carry over $6,831,465 in unused salary cap space from the 2024 season. When coupled with Over the Cap’s cap amount projection of $272.5 million, that would put the Steelers’ adjusted salary cap amount at $279,331,466.
At the bottom of this post is the list of 56 players currently under contract with the Steelers for the 2025 season as of Wednesday night. The list of players does not include WR Mike Williams, as his contract is set to be voided in February. The list of players also includes an estimated increase in base salary in 2025 for WR George Pickens, who qualified for a Proven Performance Escalator in 2024.
The projected sum of the cap charges of those top 51 players is $238,632,364. I should note that I am waiting for the official salaries of the 17 players that the Steelers just signed to Reserve/Future contracts. My salary projection for each of those 17 players is based on what I believe each of their credited seasons are.
The Steelers currently have $45,335 in dead money on the books for the 2025 season as of Wednesday night. This means that Steelers currently have $238,677,699 in Rule of 51 cap charges, which puts them $40,653,767 under the team’s projected adjusted salary cap amount of $279,331,466.
A look at the Steelers’ latest salary cap update:
Let’s next look at some easy contract terminations that the Steelers can and likely will make in the next several weeks.
Unless he agrees to have his contract significantly altered in the coming weeks, OLB Preston Smith will surely be released by the start of the new league year in March. He is currently scheduled to earn $13.4 million in 2025 and that would be the cap saving the Steelers would achieve prior to top 51 roster displacement, should he have his contract terminated.
DT Larry Ogunjobi, who is set to earn $7 million in 2025, should also be considered a candidate to have his contract terminated prior to the start of the new league year in March. Ogunjobi has a $3 million roster bonus due on March 17, so that is important to remember when it comes to a commitment date for him for the 2025 season. The Steelers would achieve $7 million in 2025 salary cap savings prior to roster displacement if Ogunjobi’s contract is terminated prior to his roster bonus being due.
ILB Cole Holcomb could potentially wind up being a March salary cap casualty as well if he’s unwilling to adjust his 2025 base salary down. Holcomb, who missed the entire 2024 season due to a knee injury, is scheduled to earn $6 million in 2025. Of that $6 million, Holcomb is due a $2 million roster bonus this offseason, but it doesn’t seem to be tied to a March date. Should Holcomb have his contract terminated prior to his roster bonus being due, the Steelers would achieve a $6 million salary cap savings prior to roster displacement occurring.
RB Cordarrelle Patterson is yet another player currently under contract for the 2025 season that might not make it past the middle of March. Patterson is set to earn a base salary of $2.8 million in 2025, and while not an exorbitant amount, his play in 2024 wasn’t really worth that amount. Even if it doesn’t happen until later in the summer, cutting Patterson would clear another $2.8 million in 2025 salary cap space prior to roster displacement.
Finally, DT Dean Lowry can probably be considered a potential March salary cap casualty as well. He is scheduled to earn $2.5 million in 2025. Should his contract wind up being terminated, the Steelers will achieve a 2025 salary cap savings of $2.5 million prior to roster displacement occurring.
While there is certainly no guarantee that all five of the players I mentioned above will have their respective contracts terminated early in the offseason, should that indeed occur, the Steelers would clear a total of $31.4 million in 2025 salary cap space prior to roster displacement occurring. That is a significant amount of salary cap savings, obviously. At a minimum, Smith, Ogunjobi and Holcomb could realistically be cut by the middle of March. Those three players having their contracts terminated would clear $26.4 million in 2025 salary cap space prior to roster displacement occurring.
Should the Steelers need to restructure a contract or two during the offseason to free up additional salary cap space, they have two prime candidates when it comes to such. TE Pat Freiermuth and OLB Alex Highsmith are those two candidates with the former likely to be the first one. Fully restructuring Freiermuth’s contract would clear $7,211,250 in 2025 salary cap space. Fully restructuring Highsmith’s contract would clear $7,886,667 in 2025 salary cap space. I don’t think the Steelers will need to restructure any contracts this offseason, but should they decide to, those two players are the likeliest candidates.
Moving on from the obvious brief list of potential contract terminations and restructurings, the Steelers might want to sign a few players to extensions this offseason. That list of players could include OLB T.J. Watt, K Chris Boswell, RB Jaylen Warren, and possibly even Pickens.
Boswell still has two years remaining on his current contract, so the Steelers might get creative and push some cash ahead for him in lieu of an extension. They did something similar to that with WR Antonio Brown several years ago.
Watt is highly likely to get a contract extension this offseason. If that happens, it should result in his 2025 salary cap charge of $30,418,695 decreasing significantly.
As for Warren, an extension for him later in the offseason might come on the heels of him receiving a second-round restricted tender from the Steelers prior to the start of the new league year. The amount of that tender should be right around $5.217 million.
When it comes to Pickens, it will be interesting to see what transpires with him this offseason. The Steelers could ultimately decide to trade him, even prior to the start of the 2025 NFL Draft. If they decide against doing that, they will need to decide if they want to sign him to a lucrative contract extension. The guaranteed money and APY of such an extension would obviously be huge in those discussions.
As usual, my table of salary cap data that is included in this post makes sure to point out projected future costs the Steelers will need to absorb once they get past the start of the new league year in March. Most of those projected future cap costs won’t need to be accommodated until closer to the start of the 2025 regular season, however. These forthcoming costs are merely included in these tables and posts to keep everyone aware of what they are likely to be. Currently, those projected future costs total to be $16,278,688 and they are itemized in the table above.
The Steelers will obviously sign a few outside free agents this offseason and they should have plenty of cap space and cash to do so. Something to watch closely for the Steelers moving into the offseason is their running cash total. Currently, the top 51 players under contract total out at $183,009,329, which is just 67.1-percent of the projected salary cap number for 2025. This offseason, the Steelers should come really close to spending 100-percent of whatever the set NFL salary cap amount winds up being in cash. Cash totals are derived from base salaries, new signing bonuses, and roster bonuses in a given year.
I will make sure to pass along several more 2025 Steelers salary cap updates in the coming weeks and certainly immediately after any notable moves are made.