NFL teams scramble to adjust their rosters, what’s next for the Steelers?
The NFL’s new league year begins next week with the Legal Tampering Period starting Monday, March 10th and the official start of the year being March 12th. While that’s still days away, the NFL news cycle has been buzzing as teams are adjusting their rosters to create salary cap space, and trim the proverbial fat to help mold their roster into a winner.
When you talk about cap-clearing moves, here are some of just a few which have taken place over the last 48 hours from around the league, courtesy of NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero:
Cap-clearing season:#Browns did a simple restructure on Deshaun Watson’s contract, clearing $35.8 million #Cowboys did a simple restructure on Dak Prescott’s contract, clearing $36.6M#Seahawks’ release of WR Tyler Lockett cleared $17M#Dolphins OT Terron Armstead’s salary… pic.twitter.com/sDIXp9DQPF
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) March 6, 2025
On top of teams who are making moves to create salary cap space by re-structuring contracts, some players are being given their outright release to help open up roster spots and valuable financial space. Some notable names who are now on the open market are:
- OLB Joey Bosa
- WR Christian Kirk
- WR Tyler Lockett
- WR Davonte Adams
This list will continue to grow as the league year approaches, but fans of the Pittsburgh Steelers should know the team has already done their cap trimming with the release of Preston Smith, a move which helped free up over $13 million dollars in cap room. Thursday morning it was made known the team has restructured the contract of ILB Cole Holcomb, freeing up roughly $4 million in cap space.
Are more moves coming? In terms of freeing up salary cap space they absolutely could be, but I wouldn’t expect any more to come in the coming days. The Steelers could free up nearly $10 million dollars in space by releasing a combination of Larry Ogunjobi and Cordarrelle Patterson.
But with the Steelers currently having roughly $63 million dollars in space, those players being released are not necessary at this time.
So, what’s next for the Steelers?
This is just my opinion, but if I were the one calling the shots this is how I would be moving forward with some key decisions which could, and hopefully will, happen before the start of the league year next week. There are three to be exact…
Tender Jaylen Warren
Warren is a Restricted Free Agent (RFA), and the Steelers will want to place a tender on him which will keep him with the Steelers for at least the 2025 season. Placing a tender on Warren won’t cost the team that much money, and will keep their dynamic playmaker in black-and-gold for another season. On top of all that, it also means they won’t have to completely rebuild yet another position group this offseason.
Extend T.J. Watt
This may sound crazy, but with Watt’s cap hit of $30,418,695, and him entering the final year of his current contract, getting an extension done sooner would be more beneficial than later. After the Las Vegas Raiders agreed to terms on a new contract with pass rusher Maxx Crosby, Watt’s contract number isn’t going to be going down anytime soon.
Here are the details of Crosby’s extension, per ESPN’s Adam Schefter:
Las Vegas Raiders are signing Pro Bowl DE Maxx Crosby to a three-year, $106.5 million extension that includes $91.5 guaranteed, making him the highest paid non-quarterback in NFL history, per sources.
For the third time in four years, the Raiders are addressing the contract of… pic.twitter.com/TKdIQdqqia
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) March 5, 2025
If the Steelers are determined to keep Watt in a Steelers uniform for the foreseeable future, a 3-year extension would not just keep Watt in Pittsburgh, but also decrease his cap hit for 2025. In other words, they could eliminate any thought of an offseason distraction by getting a deal done, but also give them more financial flexibility this offseason. Could be a win-win for both player and organization.
Sign Justin Fields
Some have different quarterbacks in mind, but I stand by my thought of upside and cost being what drives my decision making. Fields has upside, and shouldn’t be as expensive as someone like Sam Darnold. On top that, I view Fields as nothing more than a bridge quarterback at the very worst, and when you’re talking about a bridge quarterback, you don’t want to overpay. If Fields shines, that’s a good problem to have, but I’d get this deal done before free agency begins.
What do you think? Let us know your thoughts in the comment section below, and be sure to stay tuned to SCN for the latest news and notes surrounding the Steelers as they prepare for the start of the new league year.
The Steelers could free up nearly $10 million dollars in space by releasing a combination of Larry Ogunjobi and Cordarrelle Patterson.
Still scatching my head on the idea that this team needed and/or will keep Cordarelle Patterson. He is slated for a $3,750,000 cap hit. That’s a lot for a guy who averaged 2.7 touches a game ($81,000 a touch)
By contrast, if they’d signed Harris for his 5th year option ($6.7 M) and he had a similar number of touches in 2025 as he did last year, that would amount to only $22,000 a touch.
So they’re willing to pay Patterson (if they keep him) almost four times what they were unwilling to pay Harris for miniscule added production. Seems odd.
Yet he hasn’t been cut yet, lending credence to the idea they will keep him. Hopefully, if they do, they’ll renegotiate.
I don’t think there’s any chance he’s on the roster in 2025. Sometimes they release those players later in the offseason. Why they don’t do it now, I don’t know, but his roughly $3 million cap hit doesn’t make sense.
Ogunjobi would not be bad as a #3 or #4 DL in the rotation. He’s just not the #2 guy, which is what we were asking him to be in 2024.
As for Patterson, remember that there was one game (I don’t remember which) where he came in as RB and did fairly well (I think one of Warren or Harris got injured) until he himself got injured. He wasn’t the same after that. He’s the one RB on the roster who can actually run behind OZ blocking properly, and he’s also a great pass blocker.
I’m guessing that they’re keeping those two guys around to make sure they have adequate replacements before releasing them. The worst thing would be to release them and then not be able to pick up a better replacement in the FA sweepstakes. Remember, that’s what happened with DJ last year.
The game you’re thinking of was at IND. He was never the same after that ankle injury.
The amount of can kicking the browns are doing with watson’s contract is hilarious.
It is proving the cap is a moving target. As long as it keeps going up, they can keep kicking it down the road.
I read some chatter on a Browns’ fan site that Deshawn Watson’s contract was insured in such a way that they receive some type of salary cap relief if he misses significant time this year, which he will. Here is a Yahoo Sports article about it but it’s nebulous:
https://sports.yahoo.com/a-big-question-surrounding-deshaun-watsons-achilles-injury-how-much-of-his-salary-is-insured-by-the-browns-045020202.html
For me, it’s TJ I’m most concerned with. I have a feeling Fields won’t break the bank. Won’t be super cheap but won’t be jaw dropping.
For that reason, I think the TJ Watt extension is top priority. Probably the trickiest, too, especially since the Raiders essentially reset the market. I already know it’s going to take quite a long time to wheel and deal and Khan may have to perform some of his black magic to get it done.