Cam Heyward isn't practicing because he wants a raise

The days of locking up a player in a contract are over. Used to be when you would sign someone to a 5-year deal, you would say well we don't have to worry about that for 4 years.
If they outperform it, and some players ahead of them are getting more and not doing as much as they are, then its an issue, then they stage their hold in.

NIL deals and the NCAA are only going to breed this method madness into oblivion into the future, I'm afraid, not about winning anymore.
Regardless of what they say.

Only about dollars....

Just not sure what good having a contract is, if it's not fairly honored.

 

My bad, meant cap hit 2025.

 

Looking at this, the question should be should he have been on the field?

He played 71% of snaps last year. The Steelers were 2-6 when he played more than 70% of snaps, and 7-1 when he played <70% of snaps.

 

The problem with Cam sitting out if it comes time and his agent wants to play hardball and they dont sign him to a new contract he might regret someone steps up we have on the team now and makes him expendable as we all are

 

Heyward is good, very good, but he's 36 and I thought extending him last year was very risky.

Give him some token raise on his 2025 and 2026 salaries, but NO EXTENSION.

Add some performance bonuses if needed, like 14 games played, another $2 million each year.

If we pay him what HE wants, we'll have to start cutting elsewhere, and there goes any chance of contending. As narrow as that window is now, it would be non-existent if we have to cut key depth and sign minimum practice squad flunkies.

If he wants like another 5+ million per season, tell him he can play, retire or sit out and be fined and salary not paid each game out. He has choices.

 

It's getting harder and harder to root for this team.

 

I get that a disruption like this in training camp is not in the best interests for the team as a whole, and being a team captain who signed a contract barely a year ago there's a discussion that could be had about the way in which Cam appears to be playing this.

But for those angry at the idea of an athlete asking for what they feel to be fair compensation for their contributions to team, ask yourselves what you would do if you worked in a field whose revenue had grown from $6 to $20 billion over the past 20 years (+333%). You know what every one of your co-workers make - salaries that are all paid from a pool of revenue that's less than half of your company's annual earnings. The rest goes to the company's owner, whose loyalty to you was recently undermined by an investigation that showed strong signs of collusion with corporate executives and other owners to offer less guaranteed money packages to you. You also know you have precious little time to earn your salary, since it's a dangerous job and your company will look to replace you with a younger candidate fresh out of college at the smallest sign of performance decline.

You're saying that you'd never ask the boss for a raise in that situation, because it would make you the entitled, greedy pig with no loyalty?

The problem isn't the athletes. It's corporate greed and the current runaway freight train of revenue across sports and entertainment. The industry is saturated with more money than anyone knows what to do with. But they're managing numbers and margins - execs and owners want higher revenue and profit margins; players want higher compensation percentages. Cam doesn't want an extra $5M so he can buy another house. He wants a number he feels better represents his production and overall value (including merch, media, and ticket revenues) he represents to the team, and comparatively against his peers.

 

If I'm the Steelers, I don't even open a conversation. We JUST signed him to a massive contract for his age, and its a terrible look to come back looking for more money. He has zero leverage. We already had our last contract negotiation with him. If he holds out, he will be a 37 year old DE looking for big money.... his career is over. I don't even entertain it. I love Cam to death, but this ain't it.

 

Typically, I understand asking for a raise. Everyone should want to get paid what they are worth. But if you really think about it, its not like someone asking for a raise at work to get paid what they are worth. Its like a 66 year old man, who just signed the largest contract for a defensive player at his age or higher, coming back the next year and asking for even more. The company shouldn't have to give in to every demand (and in this instance, its not the right move for us to do so IMO).

Cam is supposed to be a leader. It is highly disappointing that a 36 year old man is too worried about the vanity of how his contract matches up against guys 6-10 years younger than him than he is working with the team to achieve what he says is the ultimate goal, the SB. He's going to get a lot of backlash for this stunt, and in this case I think 100% of it is justified.

 

And what happens if Cam has another All-Pro season this year, will he come back and ask for more money in 2026?

 

I don’t blame Heyward for looking for more money. In fairness, he is underpaid vs the market

The NFL is awash with money and the cap is exploding year on year. Why shouldn’t the players ask for more?

I get that the team hasn’t had playoff success but honestly I don’t put that on Cam. He always gives it his all but the team looks collectively exhausted, probably from the defence playing an extra two games worth of snaps because the offence can’t sustain drives and never gives them a break.

 

He's not getting a ring so he wants the next best thing.... Mo Money

 

Steelers can trade him to the Bills, Chiefs, Eagles, Commanders.... teams that have a chance to win a ring. Steelers can get something out of it like future draft picks or young DEs on other rosters.

 

Average NFL salaries were 1.4M in 2005. It’s over $5M now. Your math doesn’t math. They are making more, as a percentage, than the increase in revenue you quoted of 333%.

 

I agree half heartedly about the raise. We want a 3% raise, yet they want tens of millions big difference

 

This is how much I care about this one way or another

 

With Harmon and Yahya in the mix, he probably sees the writing on the wall. Good chance that he will be cut next year. As for Boz, pay the man. He deserves it

 

Cut his ass. There's no loyalty either way these days. It's all about money.

 

If anyone questions what Tank said just ask Myles Garrett. A guy supposedly wanting out of Cleveland because he cares more about wins then money. Hmmm .. Funny how the dollar kept him in Ohio.

 

I think my math's fine. You're talking average salary, which isn't an accurate representation of the bulk of NFL players - 2nd contract QBs are a large driver behind that number. A better representation would be median salary, which has increased from about $590k to $860k over that time, a rise of ~145%. Granted, Heyward is in the top tier of contract value (AAV) for his position, but that isn't the point.

He and Boz and Watt can ask for whatever raise they want, just as Rooney can say no. I just don't agree with everyone piling on the players for being greedy when there's more shared revenue allocated to the owners (51.5% vs. 48.5%) than players. And then there's the NFL executives. Goodell is estimated to make well over $64M annually, and over $700M since taking over as commissioner.

It's more money than anyone knows what to do with. I'd like to see more families able to afford going to the occasional game without blowing their entertainment budget for the next six months.

 

I get it with him pulling this one year removed from an extension, as I said above. Not a good look. Not sure I agree with the the 66 year-old comparison. These guys have to leave their profession by 35-40 (if they're lucky enough to stay healthy that long). While it's easy to say we'd love to have that kind of money at that age, the actual transition isn't that simple for most.

 

this is a dilemma-- now that TJ is paid---Everyone will want a bigger payday--And who is to say Cam is not worth it--was TJ worth it.if he is --Cam is and Boz--if you want him pay him if not get someone else. Age is of no concern I guess-- just pay or don't pay.