The Pittsburgh Steelers have remained quite busy with the shuffling of the backend of their 91-man offseason roster. On the heels of numerous signings and terminations made by the Steelers over the course of the last few weeks, it’s time once again to pass along an accurate look at the team’s 2026 salary situation.
This salary cap update, as usual, will not match the ones you see on other Steelers blogs, and that’s because those other sites have various errors included in their updates. In short, there is quite a bit of misinformation that continues to be passed along concerning the Steelers’ current salary cap situation.
As of Thursday morning, and thus the time of this post, the Steelers have 92 players technically under contract, with one of those currently on the team’s Reserve/Injured list. While QB Drew Allar has yet to sign his rookie contract, he’s currently the team’s property and thus included in the list of 92 players.
The Steelers are currently $6,025,064 under the cap as of Thursday morning, and my update total matches the latest correct information on the NFLPA salary cap page. Below is a breakdown of where the Steelers currently sit against the salary cap. The table also includes projected future salary cap costs the Steelers will likely incur at some point before Week 1 of the 2026 regular season.
Below is the list of 92 players currently under contract with the Steelers as of June 18th. Listed for each player below is a breakdown of their contract and current salary cap charge for the 2026 season.
Also included in this salary cap update is the Steelers’ dead money breakdown by player.
As previously mentioned, the Steelers have forthcoming salary cap costs they must accommodate. Eventually signing Allar to his rookie contract will have a slight impact on available salary cap space.
Beyond Allar’s signing, the Steelers will also need to budget for a 52nd and 53rd player on their Week 1 active roster, a full 17-man practice squad, several offseason injury settlements, offseason workout bonus amounts, players who start the 2026 regular season on the Reserve/Injured list, and an in-season buffer space amount. I have projected those itemized forthcoming Steelers salary cap costs, including Allar’s inevitable signing, at nearly $16 million.
Based on my projected forthcoming offseason salary cap costs for the Steelers, the team is currently estimated to have a negative $9,694,37 in effective 2026 salary cap space. That amount is obviously nearly $10 million over the cap at this point. Knowing the Steelers can’t go over the cap this offseason, we could see either at least one more contract restructuring or a few impactful contract terminations when we get closer to the start of the 2026 regular season. Perhaps even both will happen.
The Steelers still have several offseason contract-restructuring candidates in WR DK Metcalf, OLB T.J. Watt, and OLB Alex Highsmith, should the team ultimately need to create additional 2026 salary cap space. As mentioned in previous posts and podcast episodes, Metcalf is more than likely the next player the team will restructure.
The Steelers also still have a few prime offseason contract termination or trade candidates: ILB Malik Harrison and QB Mason Rudolph. It’s also important to always note that a few Steelers players who currently comprise the team’s top 51 cap charges won’t ultimately be under contract come the start of the 2026 regular season. That’s just a fact.
While the Steelers have already completed several contract extensions with players this offseason, a few more could happen by Week 1 of the regular season. CB Joey Porter Jr. and DT Keeanu Benton are the two likeliest players to sign contract extensions before the 2026 regular season gets underway. A contract extension for Porter would likely result in his 2026 salary cap charge rising somewhat. As for Benton, a contract extension would likely result in his current 2026 salary cap charge decreasing slightly.
I always like to note in these updates that Steelers S Jalen Ramsey still currently has a $17.229 million cap charge for the 2026 season. As I have explained in previous posts, that’s because the NFLPA accounts for Ramsey’s $7.4 million August option bonus, which is due not only for being exercised, but also being prorated over five years.
Should the Steelers ultimately decide not to prorate Ramsey’s option bonus later this summer, his 2026 cap charge will increase from $17.229 million. Additionally, the Steelers could also prorate Ramsey’s option bonus on top of restructuring a good chunk of his $10 million base salary right before the start of the 2026 regular season. Should the Steelers ultimately take that route, Ramsey’s current 2026 salary cap charge would likely drop considerably.
With the Steelers’ offseason practices now completed, we’re unlikely to see the team make many transactions over the next several weeks. Allar’s signing should happen before training camp starts. We could also see Porter, Benton, or even both sign contract extensions before the Steelers conduct their first training camp practice in a little over a month.