The Pittsburgh Steelers were quite busy during their annual mandatory minicamp week and not just with the practices. The Steelers signed two players to contract extensions and three outside veterans to contracts following tryouts. With the details now in for all of those moves, I am once again passing along a Steelers salary cap update.
For starters, the signings of OLB Nick Herbig and TE Darnell Washington to lucrative four-year extensions only resulted in the Steelers using $1.1612 million in additional 2026 salary cap space. As a result of Herbig’s contract extension, his 2026 salary cap charge went from $3,842,231 to $5,427,431, an increase of just $1.5852 million. Washington’s 2026 cap charge was originally set to be $3,897,438. It is now $3,473,438 after his extension was signed, so it decreased $424,000 as part of his new structure.
Since my previous salary cap update, the team has also signed S Darnell Savage, DL Dean Lowry, TE Robert Tonyan, and LB Jamin Davis to one-year, veteran benefit contracts. Savage’s contract was the only one that impacted the team’s available salary cap space as he received a $187,500 signing bonus as part of his one-year contract.
As of Monday morning, the Steelers are officially $5,955,064 *under*the cap with their Rule of 51 total. That amount of salary cap space still should be plenty to work with for the next few weeks. As usual, below is an overview and recap of the Steelers’ current salary cap situation. It also provides a real-time update and a projected update based on the team’s forthcoming projected cap costs.
steelers-2026-salary-cap-update-6826
Moving deeper into the summer, the Steelers will obviously have forthcoming salary cap costs. The eventual signing of QB Drew Allar, the team’s lone unsigned draft pick at this point, will have a slight impact on available salary cap space.
Beyond Allar signing, the Steelers will also need to budget for a 52nd and 53rd player on their active roster, a full practice squad, several offseason injury settlements, offseason workout bonus amounts, players who start the 2026 season on the Reserve/Injured list, and an in-season buffer space amount. I have projected those itemized forthcoming Steelers salary cap costs, which include Allar’s inevitable signing, totaling nearly $16 million.
Based on my projected forthcoming offseason salary cap costs, the Steelers currently have an estimated negative $9,764,373 in effective 2026 salary cap space. Yes, that amount is nearly $10 million over the cap at this point. Obviously, the Steelers can’t go over the cap this offseason, so we could see either at least one more contract restructuring or a few impactful contract terminations when we get closer to the start of the 2026 regular season. Perhaps even both will happen.
Several offseason contract-restructuring candidates still remain in WR DK Metcalf, OLB T.J. Watt, and OLB Alex Highsmith should the team ultimately need to create additional 2026 salary cap space. Metcalf is more than likely the next player the team will restructure. The team also still has a few prime offseason contract termination or trade candidates right now in ILB Malik Harrison and QB Mason Rudolph. Additionally, and it is always important to note, a few Steelers players who currently comprise the team’s top 51 cap charges won’t ultimately be under contract come the start of the 2026 regular season.
With Herbig, Washington, and K Chris Boswell all now signed to contract extensions this offseason, CB Joey Porter Jr. also remains likely to sign one at some point this summer. Additionally, DT Keeanu Benton still remains an offseason contract-extension candidate. Some additional 2026 salary cap space will likely be used should Porter ultimately sign a contract extension prior to Week 1 of the regular season.
Before I wrap up this 2026 Steelers salary cap update for early June, it’s important once again to note that S Jalen Ramsey still currently has a $17.229 million cap charge. As explained in previous posts, that’s because the NFLPA accounts for Ramsey’s $7.4 million August option bonus as not only being exercised but also prorated over five years. Should the Steelers ultimately decide to not prorate Ramsey’s option bonus later this summer, his 2026 cap charge will increase.
The Steelers could also prorate Ramsey’s option bonus on top of restructuring a good chunk of his $10 million base salary right before the start of the 2026 regular season. Should the Steelers take that route, Ramsey’s current 2026 salary cap charge would drop considerably.
As usual, I should note that while I realize that this cap space update does not match the amounts listed on other sites and Steelers blogs, my numbers once again match the NFLPA’s official number to the penny, so I can guarantee they are right. If there are any questions, please post them in the comments section below this post, and I will try to answer them throughout the week.
I’ll post my next 2026 Steelers salary cap update after the next significant transaction or two occurs.
Related Items:Alex Highsmith, Chris Boswell, Contracts, Darnell Savage, Darnell Washington, Dean Lowry, DK Metcalf, Drew Allar, Jalen Ramsey, Jamin Davis, Keeanu Benton, Malik Harrison, Mason Rudolph, Nick Herbig, Robert Tonyan, Salary Cap, T.J. Watt, Trending, weekly
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