Steelers Analysis Steelers Features
Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver George Pickens before a game against the Cincinnati Bengals on Dec. 1, 2024. — Ed Thompson / Steelers Now
The Pittsburgh Steelers spent most of the 2025 offseason with almost no dead money on their salary cap rolls, but that has changed after the trade of wide receiver George Pickens to the Dallas Cowboys and the release of a few other players.
The Steelers trade of Pickens caused a dead cap hit of $522,670 for the remaining prorated portion of his signing bonus. That’s one of a number of dead cap hits the Steelers have added recently.
After some time, the NFLPA determined that the Steelers’ release of Mike Williams early in the offseason included a $1.516 million dead cap hit that was not originally reported. That charge has hit their rolls recently.
The Steelers also incurred dead cap hits with the release of Montravius Adams ($875,000) and Ryan Watts ($137,000) to bring their overall dead cap hit total north of $6.6 million.
PITTSBURGH STEELERS 2025 DEAD CAP HITS
Dead Money$6,629,352Larry Ogunjobi $3,533,334Mike Williams$1,516,000Montravius Adams$875,000George Pickens$522,670Ryan Watts$137,013John Rhys Plumlee$23,334Daijun Edwards$12,000Jacoby Windmon$6,667Julius Welschof$3,334
How has that changed the team’s overall salary cap picture? Not that much. While those moves created dead cap hits, they also reduced expected salary charges for 2025. So the overall cap picture remains about the same.
According to Steelers Now’s estimation, the Steelers have just over $35 million in current, offseason salary cap space.
Pittsburgh Steelers general manager Omar Khan during a press conference on April 27, 2024. — Ed Thompson / Steelers Now
PITTSBURGH STEELERS 2025 SALARY CAP SNAPSHOT
Salary Cap$279,200,0002024 Rollover$6,831,465Team Cap$286,031,465Top 51 Salaries$244,388,182Dead Money$6,629,352Current Salary Cap Space$35,013,931
Offseason salary cap space can be deceiving. General manager Omar Khan can’t spend all the money in the Steelers’ coffers. The Steelers will have some expenses between now and the start of the season that while known, are not yet on the books. Those include the final unsigned player in the 2025 NFL Draft class — first-round pick Derrick Harmon — offseason workout bonuses, the final two players on the 53-man roster (only 51 count in the offseason), a practice squad, players on the injured reserve, and a buffer for in-season moves.
Those items will functionally reduce the team’s ability to spend by about $16 million. Because those items won’t hit the ledger until later in the summer, the Steelers can actually over-spend now and figure out how to get back under the cap later.
So the Steelers have plenty of cap space to sign Aaron Rodgers — especially if he’s really willing to play for $10 million, like he said — trade for a wide receiver, and maybe even add a cornerback to the rotation.
New York Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers during a game against the Pittsburgh Steelers on Oct. 20, 2024. — Ed Thompson / Steelers Now
KNOWN STEELERS 2025 FUTURE EXPENSES
Workout Bonuses (est.)$907,67152nd & 53rd Players$2,100,5552025 NFL Draft Rookie Pool$2,216,817Practice Squad (est.)$4,000,000In-season Buffer (est.)$5,000,000Functional 2025 Salary Cap Space (est.)$25,712,186
The Steelers can even make a whole lot more cap space if they want to. The forthcoming T.J. Watt contract extension will almost certainly reduce his cap hit, and possibly significantly. The Steelers could also restructure the contract of players like Alex Highsmith, Cam Heyward, Minkah Fitzpatrick and Pat Freiermuth to make more salary cap space. A couple of veterans that have been displaced on the depth chart like Dean Lowry and Cordarrelle Patterson could also provide cap relief if released.
POTENTIAL STEELERS 2025 SALARY CAP SAVINGS
T.J. Watt Extension$9,000,000Cordarrelle Patterson Release$2,800,000Dean Lowry Release$2,500,000Alex Highsmith Restructure$7,886,667Pat Freiermuth Restructure$7,211,250Minkah Fitzpatrick Restructure$7,122,500Cam Heyward Restructure$6,747,500Potential Salary Cap Savings$43,267,917
Pittsburgh Steelers outside linebacker T.J. Watt during a game against the Philadelphia Eagles on Dec. 15, 2024. — Ed Thompson / Steelers Now
PITTSBURGH STEELERS 2025 PLAYER-BY-PLAYER SALARY CAP HITS
T.J. Watt$30,418,695Minkah Fitzpatrick$22,355,000Cam Heyward$19,650,000Alex Highsmith$18,602,000Patrick Queen$17,693,333Pat Freiermuth$12,885,000DK Metcalf$11,000,000Isaac Seumalo$10,191,668Darius Slay$10,000,000Jaylen Warren$5,346,000Chris Boswell$4,720,000Broderick Jones$4,534,463Miles Killebrew$4,245,000DeShon Elliott$3,750,000Cordarelle Patterson$3,750,000Cole Holcomb$3,640,000Cameron Johnston$3,458,333Troy Fautanu$3,421,658Malik Harrison$3,210,000Dean Lowry$3,125,000Juan Thornhill$3,000,000Mason Rudolph$2,875,500Daniel Ekuale$2,800,000Joey Porter Jr.$2,623,186Brandin Echols$2,085,000Robert Woods$2,000,000Keeanu Benton$1,999,943Kenneth Gainwell$1,790,000Zach Frazier$1,714,594Ben Skowronek$1,710,000DeMarvin Leal$1,650,376Calvin Anderson$1,585,000Darnell Washington$1,460,158Isaiahh Loudermilk$1,337,500Roman Wilson$1,305,720Christian Kuntz$1,278,333Payton Wilson$1,271,889Calvin Austin III$1,226,084Nick Herbig$1,198,231Scotty Miller$1,197,500Max Scharping$1,197,500Kaleb Johnson$1,158,557Mason McCormick$1,151,224Connor Heyward$1,138,806Mark Robinson$1,128,089Brandon Johnson$1,100,000Skylar Thompson$1,100,000Corliss Waitman$1,100,000James Pierre$1,080,000Jack Sawyer$1,077,733Cory Trice Jr.$1,051,109Spencer Anderson$1,049,446Devin Harper$1,030,000Eku Leota$1,030,000Ryan McCollum$1,030,000Jeremiah Moon$1,030,000Esezi Otomewo$1,030,000Donald Parham$1,030,000Lecitus Smith$1,030,000Jonathan Ward$1,030,000Beanie Bishop$968,333Joshuah Bledsoe$960,000Dylan Cook$960,000Evan Hull$960,000D’Shawn Jamison$960,000Lance McCutcheon$960,000Yahya Black$934,959Will Howard$902,025Logan Lee$895,018Carson Bruener$874,235Donte Kent$873,363Domenique Davis$840,000Steven Jones$840,000Cameron McCutcheon$840,000Kyler McMichael$840,000Doug Nester$840,000Jacob Slade$840,000Julius Welschof$840,000Trey SermonSebastian CastroJJ GalbreathMax HurlemanBlake MangelsonBen SaulsRoc TaylorDJ Thomas-JonesGareth WarrenAiden WilliamsKe’Shawn Williams
Salary figures from Steelers Now sources, the NFLPA, and Over The Cap.
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