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The Pittsburgh Steelers have finally restructured a contract to help free some salary cap space heading into the 2016 season. While most thought Ben Roethlisberger would be first on the list, the team restructured offensive tackle Marcus Gilbert’s deal before anyone else’s.
Looks like the Steelers restructured RT Marcus Gilbert's contract to create $2,392,500 in cap space. Cap # drops from $6.461M to $4,068,500.
— Ian Whetstone (@IanWhetstone) August 25, 2016
The Steelers were all but certain to restructure somebody before the season began. I thought Big Ben the most likely candidate. May still.
— Ian Whetstone (@IanWhetstone) August 25, 2016
This is the second time the Steelers have restructured Gilbert’s contract, the last time was in February of 2015. Nonetheless, it will most likely help give the team some financial leverage to be able to make some moves in the last days of the preseason.
What moves could still be made, especially after the 3-year extension given to Vince Williams? The first on most fans’ list would be getting David DeCastro locked up with a long-term deal, as he is entering the 5th year option of his rookie contract.
The other would be to give them some flexibility in possibly bringing in a player who was recently released from another team during the annual rust cuts. A player like Ross Cockrell could be on the team’s radar as the secondary is anything but a sure thing heading into the 2016 season.
The Steelers cleared $2 million dollars in the Gilbert restructure, and that could come in handy with just about two weeks remaining until the team's season opener in Washington.