**Will the Steelers adjust Cam Heyward’s contract before the regular season begins?**
With the regular season drawing near, the Steelers haven’t actually resolved Cam Heyward’s contract dispute, even if he is practicing. Although he did not go to the lengths of Trey Hendrickson, he is clearly earning less than he is worth. Thus far, the organization has offered no indications that it intends to budge at all.
Last season, Heyward signed a very modest two-year contract extension that at the time featured no new guaranteed money and a well-below-market $14.5 million per season in new money. Coming off an All-Pro season, he believes, reasonably, he is worth much more than that.
If he were a free agent, or even going into the last year of his contract, he would have a much stronger case. The Steelers do not negotiate new contracts with players except franchise quarterbacks until they are in the last year of their current deal. Cam Heyward is under contract through 2026, so will they just tell him to suck it up?
Quite possibly, they just might, knowing that he doesn’t have it in him to skip games. Although he publicly left that option on the table, I’m inclined to believe his reputation is worth more to him. He has already damaged his standing in the eyes of a subset of vocal fans who believe billionaires’ labor is paramount over millionaires’, the millionaires being the ones fans actually care about. But nobody should be making millions “for playing a game” n’at.
Regardless of where one stands on what an individual should be entitled to earn as a professional athlete, Cam Heyward has a bigger problem. He pushed for a contract extension last year, and he got one. Although he may have presumed the two sides would reconvene at the negotiating table in a year’s time, he clearly found himself alone in that presumption. Indeed, he claims they laughed when he said it last year.
There is a very small precedent for Cam Heyward to get his way. A decade ago, the Steelers forwarded money from future years of Antonio Brown’s contract rather than create a new deal. He received an additional $2 million in the second- and third-to-last years of his deal, then signed a new contract when entering the final season of the contract. This appears to be the sort of thing Heyward has in mind, but do the Steelers?
_The Steelers are rebuilding, or reloading, whatever they feel the need to call it, after another disappointment last season. Though they limped into the playoffs, they once again embarrassed themselves therein._
_Just like last year, the biggest question hanging over the Steelers is_ [_the quarterback question_](https://steelersdepot.com/2025/04/schrager-thinkhttps:/steelersdepot.com/2025/06/aaron-rodgers-confirms-he-plans-to-retire-after-2025-nfl-season/)_. While they made a lot of moves, they have to put the pieces together. The_ [_2025 NFL Draft class_](https://www.steelers.com/draft/) _could play a big role, but veteran additions will be paramount._
_Now we are heading into the regular season. From Aaron Rodgers to George Pickens to Minkah Fitzpatrick and Jalen Ramsey, we’ve seen the Steelers make some big changes. Now it’s about evaluating the roster in place and filling holes as we go._