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The Pittsburgh Steelers have some players they would like to extend prior to the 2019 regular season, but doing so is difficult without any salary cap space. According to Gerry Dulac of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, the Steelers have restructured Stephon Tuitt’s contract to create more salary cap space.
Team source confirms: Steelers have converted $5.195 million of DE Stephon Tuitt's $6 million base salary into a signing bonus, creating $3.9 million in cap space this season. Tuitt, 26, is one of the highest paid defensive lineman in the league.
— Gerry Dulac (@gerrydulac) July 30, 2019
Per Dulac, the Steelers turned Tuitt’s $6 million dollar base salary into a signing bonus, creating $3.9 million dollars in salary cap space throughout the process.
This practice is common place for the Steelers, as this is status quo for them when it comes to restructuring contracts. However, the question turns from Tuitt’s restructure to what the team will want to do with the extra money.
It has been obvious the team wants to extend Joe Haden’s contract, and while this might be the priority for the Steelers this offseason, there are other players who could be looking for a new contract as well. Javon Hargrave, Sean Davis and even someone like Tyler Matakevich could all benefit from new contracts, but that doesn’t mean it will happen.
The Steelers are doing their diligence, and the next step will be the big one. Stay tuned to BTSC for the latest news and notes surrounding the black-and-gold as they press on to the 2019 regular season.