Cam Heyward isn't practicing because he wants a raise

He got a deal done today



A deadline deal: Steelers and Cam Heyward reached agreement tonight on a revised deal that will add over $3 million in incentives this year and allows him to earn up $18 million this season, per source.

 

So He will play limited snaps???

 

I'd assume so.


Remember that Heyward played only 71% of the total snaps in 2024; a First Team All Pro to his credit. Given how more equipped Pittsburgh is on the IDL this season, I'd imagine the team will either keep Heyward at that level or even go a bit lower than 71% for the whole season.


As for how much he plays tomorrow?! I would guess 69% to 72% total. Yahya Black's Preseason has me a bit more confident in terms of stopping the run though my confidence would be even greater if Derrick Harmon was in.

 

One less distraction to worry about.


Up to the coaches to manage his snap count. They got it right with 71% in 2024 after having him go over 80 from 2019 to 2022 multiple times. The IDL is improved from 2024 as well from a depth and potentially talent perspective as well.


Time to see how much better the IDL is tomorrow.

 

Looks like he got a revised contract…

Honestly, I think Cam knows he’s just about done and looking for one last pay day….I’m not really sure he deserves it TBH… not because of what he has done in the past, but because he isn’t gonna give us much more past this year.

He should have just played out his contract. I guess can’t blame him for trying to get all he can.

 

The squeaky wheel gets the grease. If you want a raise you have to let your boss know that you are not happy.

An extra $3 million in incentives this year if Cam has another All-Pro season, with nothing guaranteed for next year.

 

Really? Okay, let's look at their commitment. What the team did with Heyward's extension was convert his 2024 salary to signing bonus and add two years with an AAV that ranked about 14th among interior defensive linemen. The signing bonus was prorated over the three years, so it actually helped the org from an accounting standpoint. There were no performance incentives, and the only guaranteed dollars after 2024 triggered IF the team didn't cut him by mid-March. Thus the team had an out, which takes some shine off of 'commitment'.

Meanwhile Heyward, performing at the level of one of the top six IDLs in the league (named to the AP1 team), had no incentives, and no exclusively guaranteed dollars if the team decided to cut ties at the end of the season.

I'm not excusing the way in which Heyward handled things. I don't like it. But those throwing barbs only at Heyward are being extremely myopic with respect to how the business end of things works between owners and players. All the team had to do was add $3M in incentives for this year. It's silly that that couldn't have been included last year.

 

I disagree. It is important to make progress and have success in the playoffs for experience year over year. Does it mean you are guaranteed to win a SB the following year? Of course not but for every example you can give for teams not winning it I could give you examples of it helping. 2005 Steelers for 1. And if the ultimate prize is a SB you must be very disappointed in the fact that we don’t even come freaking close.

 

He gets incentives tied into the Steelers playoff success. Poor guy.

 

everyone is looking for a maximum payday these days.

 

cam and TJ dont have any playoff win experience. Not in the last ten years for cam anyway. There is no tomorrow for these guys. I think its SB or bust for them this year. Or at least AFCCG

 

SB or bust for a team that hasn’t had a playoff win in 8 years? I’d take a WC win to show some progress. Cam will never win a SB here. TJ probably won’t either unless they draft a great QB rd 1 next year.