Steelers restructure Marcus Gilbert's contract to create salary cap space

The Pittsburgh Steelers are set to make some deals this offseason, and none looms larger than signing quarterback Ben Roethlisberger to a long-term contract keeping him in Pittsburgh for the remainder of his career. The organization took a step towards creating more salary cap space for themselves Wednesday as they restructured offensive tackle Marcus Gilbert's contract to save $3.724 million dollars towards the salary cap, per ESPN's Field Yates.

Gilbert signed a 6-year contract in August of 2014 worth over $30 million dollars, along with a $7.65 millions dollar signing bonus. Gilbert's restructured deal happened by turning a $3.5 million roster bonus and $1.15 million of his salary into a signing bonus, pushing the hit down the road.

Some might see this as simply kicking the can down the road, and not necessarily ever picking it up, but it is common place in today's NFL to not only create space with the salary cap, but also to maneuver your money to help you make more moves in the offseason.

Gilbert's deal could be just the beginning of the restructuring process as the Steelers have a very small amount of wiggle room financially to be major players in free agency which starts March 10th.