Steelers make first two moves prior to the official start of free agency

The Pittsburgh Steelers have made their first significant offseason moves by re-signing special teams ace and reserve safety Miles Killebrew and officially offering an original-round tender to Restricted Free Agent (RFA) quarterback Dwayne Haskins.

Report of a new deal with Killebrew comes from NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport.

Signed by the Steelers in 2021, Killebrew played last season with a base salary of $990K. Notching 13 tackles on the season, as well as two blocked punts, Killebrew only saw 44 snaps on defense while tallying 335 special team snaps.

The report of Killebrew signing a two-year deal for $4 million dollars will eventually need to have specific financials at some point to understand the implications on the salary cap. With it being a deal for more than one season, the salary cap hit for 2022 will likely be lower than $2 million per year average.

It has also been reported by Pro Football Focus (PFF) that the Steelers have officially used an original round tender for RFA Dwayne Haskins. This according to Doug Kyed, of PFF:

It has been reported since January that the Steelers were going to use an original-round tender on Haskins, they simply had not officially offered the deal. In doing so, Haskins will be set to earn $2.54 million this season and will be an unrestricted free agent in 2023 if he ultimately signs the tender.

With the price tag being a first-round draft pick, as well as his salary, I don’t think there will be any teams lining up for Dwayne Haskins’ services in 2022. By placing this tender on Haskins, he will likely be under contract with the Steelers for the duration of the 2022 season. Even if another team offers Haskins a contract, the Steelers would have the opportunity to match the contract or let Haskins go for the draft pick.

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