Steelers re-structure T.J. Watt’s contract to create more salary cap space

The Pittsburgh Steelers have been making moves throughout the 2022 offseason, and that continued into the preseason. With every move made, more of the salary cap space they had started to dwindle.

When it comes to creating enough space for the team to operate during the regular season, this is right in Omar Khan’s wheelhouse. The process started when recently acquired Malik Reed agreed to re-do his contract upon being traded to the Steelers from the Denver Broncos.

The Steelers, likely wanting to create more space heading into the regular season, used their ace in the hole by restructuring T.J. Watt’s contract to free up $6.75 million dollars of space.

This per Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network:

The Steelers had flexibility with Watt’s contract, and could restructure it to maximize savings if necessary. It is likely the Steelers only felt the need to free up the aforementioned amount to put them in a comfortable spot heading into the regular season.

During the season teams have to pay for their practice squad, injured players and any additional roster moves which always happen during the 17-game regular season. Reading into this as if it is some precursor to another roster move might be hasty. In reality, it might just be the team being in a better financial situation before the start of the regular season.

Be sure to stay tuned to BTSC for the latest news and notes surrounding the Steelers as they prepare for their Week 1 game of the 2022 regular season when they travel to Ohio to play the Cincinnati Bengals.