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The Pittsburgh Steelers have restructured the second contract of the off-season, as they prepare to be salary cap compliant when the NFL's 2013 season officially begins on March 12th, at 4 PM ET.
RT @profootballtalk: #Steelers WR Antonio Brown restructures contract to create cap space, per source with knowledge of deal.
— BTSC Steelers (@btsteelcurtain) February 27, 2013
AB's restructure reportedly frees up ~$3 million in cap space for the #Steelers
— BTSC Steelers (@btsteelcurtain) February 27, 2013
Antonio Brown signed a five-year extension prior to the beginning of the 2012 regular season. He was scheduled for a non-guaranteed base salary of $2 million and a roster bonus worth $2.5 million - both were eligible for restructure.
If the report of a $3 million cap savings stands true, the team converted $3.75 million of his eligible $4.5 million into a signing bonus, adding an additional $750k to each of the four years remaining on his contract, while saving the reported $3 million against 2013.
Lawrence Timmons restructured his deal to save slightly over $5.3 million. Brown's will push the Steelers savings to safely over $8 million, leaving them approximately $6 million left to clear by the first deadline. Ben Roethlisberger and LaMarr Woodley are also considered candidates for restructures, with Roethlisberger's expected before the week is over. Woodley's could save the team approximately $6 million, at a cost of $2 million per each additional season. Roethlisberger's would provide an additional $7 million.
The team's actual intentions toward well-comensated-but-aging veterans and evaluations of their free-agents will dictate whether they just reconfigure Roethlisberger's salary and Woodley's, or simply one or the either. PFT also reports the cap should be in excess of $123 million, leaving the team some additional unexpected breathing room.
Adam Schefter is now reporting the team is in process of negotiating Woodley's salary. Stay tuned to BTSC for updates.
Not only did Steelers restructure Antonio Brown's contract, as PFT reported, but they will restructure LB LaMarr Woodley's contract as well.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) February 27, 2013