The Steelers signed CB Brice McCain today. The deal was for one year at the vet minimum, including a $65,000 signing bonus. I can also give you the specific contract details for LeGarrette Blount, who signed with the Steelers last week, as well as a salary cap update that you likely won’t get anywhere else.

[table]

Player, Year, Base Salary, Signing Bonus, Salary Cap Number

“McCain, Brice”, 2014, “$730,000”, “$65,000”, “$635,000”

[/table]

McCain’s contract qualifies for the veteran minimum salary benefit, so his base salary will only count against the cap the same as a 2nd year player’s minimum salary would- $570,000. After displacement on the top 51, his addition will only move the salary cap needle by $140,000.

LeGarrette Blount’s 2 year deal can be seen below. His 2014 cap number is $1.375 Mil.
[table]

Player, Year, Base Salary, Signing Bonus, Salary Cap Number

“Blount, LeGarrette”, 2014, “$900,000”, “$475,000”, “$1,375,000”

“Blount, LeGarrette”, 2015, “$2,000,000”, “$475,000”, “$2,475,000”

[/table]
His signing displaced the top 51 cap number by $880,000. The Steelers had approximately $1.4 Mil in salary cap space before signing Blount on Friday. I know…you’re probably saying, “Steve, you’re wrong. So and so said it was $1 million!” The number that most people are using is from the NFLPA’s public spreadsheet. That number hasn’t been accurate for a while.

The NFL and NFLPA often don’t have matching salary cap numbers, and the NFLPA’s is not official. One major discrepancy is the way in which the NFLPA accounts for players who are designated June 1st cuts. With that out of the way, let’s wrap this up. After the signing of Blount and McClain, the team should be sitting roughly $380,000 under the cap by my calculations.

As you’ve likely realized, the team has enough cap room to sign another veteran for the minimum if they want to, without having to make moves to clear space. Thanks for stopping by and be sure to share with your friends.