The Steelers and defensive lineman Cam Heyward have beaten the clock.
Given Pittsburgh’s well-established (and entirely illogical) rule that no contracts will be negotiated during football season, the Steelers and Heyward have reached an agreement on a revised contract for 2025.
Via NFL Network, the team has added “more than $3 million” in incentives to Heyward’s pay for 2025. The extra payments are premised on the team making it to the playoffs, and winning playoff games.
The Steelers last won a postseason game in the 2016 season.
Before the 2024 season, Heyward signed a two-year, $29 million extension to a contract that otherwise ran through 2024. He said last month that he told them he’d be back at the table, after making the All-Pro team. And he did.
But the Steelers didn’t budge. Heyward stopped practicing in an effort to get more. Eventually, he returned to work. On Friday, he suggested he may not play on Sunday against the Jets.
Even though the two sides reached an eleventh-hour resolution, the entire situation created an avoidable and protracted distraction. And time will tell whether the time and effort devoted to the situation will impact Heyward’s performance when the real games start, tomorrow.
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