The Steelers are starting to run out of time to retain players

The start of a brand new league year is just days away. This is always an exciting time for hardcore NFL fans, as rumors begin to fly and rosters begin to take shape. However, due to a reduced salary cap in 2021, this process is a touch more stressful for those teams who spend to the cap every year. The Pittsburgh Steelers are one of those organization’s that maxes out the credit cards on a yearly basis in hopes of winning a championship.

With the legal tampering period coming up on March 15th the Steelers now only have a couple of days to negotiate new deals with their free agents. The strange part is how the Steelers have already dug themselves back into cap compliance, sitting with an estimated $5 million in available space currently. But they haven't don’t anything since. Restructuring contracts to Stephon Tuitt, and Chris Boswell would inch them closer to $10 Million in space. Even extending or cutting a number of players could give the team up to an additional $30 million to work with.

But yet, nothing has happened.

With reports coming out that the salary cap will be $182.5 million, we can deduce that relief won't be coming from the league either. So, I ask the question, are the Steelers content with letting all of their free agents test the market? The only rational reason behind doing that would be the assumption of dollars drying up and those players will have to come running back to Pittsburgh on vet minimum type deals. This is not a game of chance the Pittsburgh Steelers have ever played.

Could they announce a number of moves within an hour? I suppose, but the rumor mill is dead silent. The Steelers were never going to be able to afford the likes of Bud Dupree or JuJu Smith-Schuster but secondary moves were still assumed to be business as usual. At this current moment even that business can't happen.

If this team wants to make one more run with Ben Roethlisberger, and keep the band together then they better start moving quickly. For all we know the NFL’s salary cap might not be officially released until minutes before the league year and the team cannot wait on that deadline to start making moves. As the old adage goes, prepare for the worst but hope for the best.

But what do you think? Are you concerned about the Steelers lack of cost cutting moves after the Ben Roethlisberger renegotiation? Let us know your thoughts down in the comments below.