With the 2024 NFL Draft now behind us, I know most of you have been sitting on your Black and Gold pins and needles waiting for a cash spending update on the Pittsburgh Steelers. That is the case, right? Well, if it is, today is your lucky day. Included in this post is a look at the potential of a “significant playmaker” on offense still being added as well.
Currently, and not counting any of the team’s seven 2024 draft picks and five undrafted free agents, the Steelers’ cash spending total for their top 53 players currently under contract is a mere $191,171,168. Now, we need to account for several things beyond that total, including signing bonuses due to all rookies in addition to a $4 million dollar cash charge for the team’s expected practice squad for the 2024 season.
The Steelers’ rookies, and that includes the seven 2024 draft picks, are estimated to have signing bonus amounts that total out to around $13.14 million. Add the $4 million for a practice squad onto that, and we get roughly $17.14 million that needs to be added to the running top-53 cash spending total of $191,171,168. In short, we have a presumed 2024 cash total outlook right now of right around $208,572,000. That is roughly 81.7 percent of the NFL’s 2024 salary cap number of $255.4 million when it comes to cash versus cap.
Now, if you remember, I projected way earlier in the offseason that the Steelers would spend at least $235 million in cash in 2024. That is only a projection, mind you, and it’s a tough one to make with 2024 being the first year of the NFL’s three-year cash spending period in the CBA. Nothing says that the Steelers can’t or won’t spend more or less than that $235 million total in 2024. It is only an educated guess on my part, and I can guarantee everyone that it won’t be exact.
By the way, a 2024 cash spend of $235 million in 2024 is still just 92 percent of the league’s 2024 cap number, so it is a reasonable projection. Remember, teams are required to spend at least 90 percent of the NFL’s three-year cap total in cash over that span.
Let’s assume that my $235 million cash spend total for the Steelers in 2024 is correct, or at the very least, relatively close. As things stand here in early May, the Steelers are still roughly $26.5 million short of that $235 million cash spending projection. But wait, there’s more spending coming, or at least I think there is.
The Steelers are very likely to sign TE Pat Freiermuth to a contract extension later this summer. If they do, I could visualize around another $13 million in cash being spent on such a deal. I am planning for such, if we’re being honest.
I think we might see something done with the contract of DT Cameron Heyward later this summer as well. Might it be an extension? If so, will it include any new and thus additional cash money in 2024 as part of an extension? Personally, I’m betting against an additional cash spend. That said, finding out if indeed that will be the case is a crucial piece to this cash projection puzzle.
If an extension for Heyward ultimately happens, and if no new cash is added in 2024 as part of such a transaction, that obviously won’t move the spending needle at all. Once again, the proof will be in the pudding when and if that gets done.
If my projection concerning Heyward is indeed correct, that obviously still leaves the Steelers roughly $13.5 million in cash spending they would need to make to get to my $235 million projection.
What fits perfectly into that $13.5 million spot? How about a contract belonging to either DK Metcalf or Courtland Sutton, who are currently members of the Seattle Seahawks and Denver Broncos, respectively? Both Metcalf and Sutton are each scheduled to earn base salaries in 2024 of $13 million. How coincidental is that? Remember, my $235 million cash spend projection for the Steelers for 2024 was made several weeks ago and thus well before all of this Metcalf and Sutton speculation really started picking up steam, if you call it that.
Now, most of you who have followed this site and my posts over the years probably know that I don’t usually entertain a lot of trade speculation. In the past, the Steelers’ cap and cash situations really dictated that I shouldn’t. Additionally, the Steelers were quite easy to predict when Kevin Colbert was the team’s general manager. With Omar Khan since taking over for Colbert, we don’t have much of a track record. Additionally, Khan seems to be a lot more aggressive than Colbert ever was in certain areas such as offseason roster building.
As I start to wind this post up, no, I’m not going to sit here and firmly predict that the Steelers will be trading for either Metcalf or Sutton once we get past June 1. I will say that acquiring either player still seems plausible right now. I am watching the Seahawks’ cap maneuvers daily right now as they have a lot of them forthcoming. Should a Metcalf contract restructure ultimately be a part of such cap-clearing maneuvers in the coming days or weeks, you can then officially rule him out as a potential trade target of the Steelers.
Why would the Seahawks even consider trading Metcalf post-June 1? I get asked that question quite a bit since I wrote about his contract. Quite honestly, I don’t have a great answer for that other than maybe for cap purposes and the team wanting to go in another direction. They have more of a reason to retain him than they do trading him, quite honestly, but stranger things have happened before. As for Sutton, it is more believable that the Broncos might decide to trade him at any point moving forward and especially after June 1, when they can lessen their 2024 dead money charge on him.
In closing, these are hard cash spending numbers to date for the Steelers mixed with a lot of speculation concerning where else cash might be spent by the team moving forward. I want to make clear that these are only projections and on top of that, us being in the first year of a three-year CBA period makes those projections even tougher to be close on.
All told, the Steelers will have more cash spending ahead, past them signing their rookies. I can almost guarantee that. How much more cash spending moving forward and on what is really anyone’s guess but don’t be surprised if some of it goes toward acquiring a wide receiver via a trade. The cash spending math at least works when it comes to such. It’s scary how well it works, honestly.