Who can the Steelers afford in Free Agency?

Who can the Steelers afford in Free Agency?
Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin looks up at the scoreboard in the first half, December 1, 2019, at Heinz Field. (John Kuntz, cleveland.com)

The Steelers are one of the few teams who were severely affected by the cap number being lowered by $16M due to COVID-19. They would have around $22M and be able to free up more cap space and make a run at some top free agents. Instead, they’re sitting at $6M with some moves they could make to free up some more wiggle room. 

Releasing CB Joe Haden would save $7M, and releasing CB Steven Nelson would save $8.2M. I expect one of those two to be released in the coming days. I predict them to actually extend CB Steven Nelson, a three-year extension worth $10M annually. This would free up around $5M. Then with that move, they release Joe Haden, which frees up $7M. These moves free up a total of $13M and gives them $19M. 

To create even more cap space the steelers should restructure Cam Hayward’s and Stephon Tuitts contracts to free up around $10M in cap space. This gives them a final amount of $29M heading into free agency. 

This allows them to fill some holes they lost this offseason. Maurkice Pouncey is retiring, and they most likely won’t re-sign RB James Conner, and EDGE Bud Dupree

I predict them to sign C Austin Reiter, CB Ronald Darby, EDGE Kyler Fackrell and WR Kendrick Bourne. This would leave them with the possibility to draft RB and OT in the 2021 NFL Draft. 

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