The Steelers have already signed Cam Heyward to a contract extension, but they have five other candidates, Gerry Dulac argues. They are the obvious candidates, granted, including their top four contributors from the 2023 NFL Draft class. For the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, the veteran beat writer looked at each player’s candidacy.
The most obvious and immediate extension candidate for the Steelers is K Chris Boswell. Unless Brandon Aubrey signs a record-shattering deal soon, they should make him the highest-paid kicker in the game, Dulac writes. In his words, Boswell “would appear to be the most likely to receive a contract extension, one that would put him at or near the top of the league at his position”.
The ceiling for kickers just recently ticked slightly upward. The Bills signed Tyler Bass to a contract extension worth $6.75 million per season, so the Steelers could give Boswell $7 million. Realistically, Aubrey is the only kicker who could blow the market up any time soon.
Of the Steelers’ remaining extension candidates, Joey Porter Jr. is the most important as their contracts expire. Porter is a full-time starter, a virtually every-down player, and their best cornerback. “Porter gives the Steelers something they haven’t had in a while”, Dulac writes: “a budding cornerback worthy of a second contract”.
Of course, it’s one thing for the Steelers to have a young cornerback worth a contract extension. It’s another to actually work that extension out. Dulac suggested that a new deal for Porter could top Jalen Ramsey’s in new money average. That figure is $24,100,000, for the record, the fifth highest for cornerbacks in the NFL. But three cornerbacks are now making $30 million a year. If Porter asks for that, do they let him hit free agency a year from now?
The Steelers’ three remaining contract extension candidates are Nick Herbig, Darnell Washington, and Keeanu Benton. Herbig is not a starter but may expect to be paid like one. Dulac noted that it “could be a problem” because even non-starters off the edge earn big money on the open market. He questions what the Steelers could allocate to Herbig, and what Herbig would settle for.
But he believes it would be easier for the Steelers to work out contract extensions for Washington and Benton. They are both starters, or at least close enough, but not starters at flashy positions. “Extending Washington might be more feasible because he wouldn’t cost as much as Boswell, Porter or Herbig”, Dulac wrote. Of Benton, he argues he “took a big enough step last season to convince the Steelers he is worth keeping around”. And he also thinks he “wouldn’t cost a lot” but that’s relative.
In the middle of March, the Steelers are in a good spot in terms of the salary cap, but they obviously have some important contract extension discussions to have over the course of the next few months. Ideally, I imagine they want to extend all five candidates. Realistically, that’s probably not going to happen. But how close can they come to retaining their 2023 draft class, especially in light of their 2022 class being gone?
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