The Pittsburgh Steelers have reportedly made a move to retain B.J. Finney after news emerged of a second-round tender being placed on the restricted free agent on Wednesday.
The #Steelers put a second-round restricted tender on OL B.J. Finney, source said. It’s worth $3.095 million. Protecting a onetime undrafted player who has emerged as a valuable reserve.
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) March 6, 2019
This tender comes with a one-year contract worth $3.095 million and should all but guarantee the offensive lineman will be staying with the Steelers for at least one more season. Should Finney sign elsewhere, Pittsburgh would be eligible for a second-round draft pick as compensation.
The former Kansas State product has come a long way from the young man who was overwhelmed to be joining the Steelers as an undrafted free agent in 2015. And while he has been limited to just nine starts in the 43 games he has dressed for, Finney has shown more than enough to suggest he is capable of being a starter.
Given his draft status, placing a lower tender on the versatile lineman would have left him exposed to the rest of the league, with no loss of draft pick for the team that tried to sign him. However, much like with Chris Boswell in 2018, placing a one-year tender on Finney does not prevent them from negotiating a long-term contract later in the year and potentially lowering his cap hit.
In light of this financial commitment, it seems rather unlikely that Pittsburgh will also attempt to re-sign Ramon Foster before the new league year begins on March 13. The veteran guard earned a base salary of $2.675 million last season and had a cap hit of just over $3.5 million. Six years his junior, moving forward with Finney as the replacement at left guard seems the obvious move for a team lacking in salary cap space.