Steelers May Sign Only Heyward to New Deal

Good morning,

As I wrote in today’s Post-Gazette, Cam Heyward will have a new contract, probably before training camp begins. Others, though, will not, including several fellow linemen on offense and defense.

Among those who enter the final year of their contracts and thus eligible by the Steelers’ long-standing philosophy for new ones are tackles Kelvin Beachum and Mike Adams , guard Ramon Foster, nose tackle Steve McLendon, cornerback William Gay, defensive ends Cam Thomas and Clifton Geathers, quarterback Bruce Gradkowski, fullback Will Johnson, linebacker Sean Spence, safety Will Allen, receiver Darrius Heyward-Bey and long-snapper Greg Warren.

That’s a bunch, including starters Beachum, Foster, McLendon, Gay and, when they open with a fullback, Johnson.

How many will they sign this summer besides Heyward? My guess: None.

They probably will try to sign Beachum, but for how much? Beachum has been their starting left tackle the past two years. I’ve been told by personnel men many times that after quarterback, left tackle is the most valuable position on offense. Pro Football Focus, the only real serious endeavor that rates NFL players and makes those ratings available to fans, ranked Beachum as the fifth best left tackle in the game last season.

So, in my opinion, the Steelers either would have to pay Beachum like one of the top left tackles in the game or he will not agree to a new contract and see what happens next year – either receive a better offer from the Steelers or enter free agency. According to Over The Cap, Tyron Smith of the Cowboys is the highest-paid tackle in the NFL with an average of $12,200,000 annually. Five tackles are paid an average of at least $10 million and 11 get $8 million annually.

I don’t think the Steelers will offer that much, partly because they are paying everyone else in that line but Foster good money and guard David DeCastro will be eligible for a new contract in 2016. It does not necessarily mean that Beachum is in his final season with the Steelers, but he may find a much better deal elsewhere next March.

And while Foster has been a starter for the Steelers since half of the 2010 season, they probably will not even offer him a new contract. Again, that does not mean he will not be back in 2016, just that they won’t do a new deal this year.

The same holds true for Adams. What could you offer him that he will accept? He has been a disappointment as a second-round draft pick that could not win a starting job, but he also played well as a backup who filled in and started four games last season. Adams has to think that he can find a better deal and a starting job somewhere else next year.

McLendon will earn nearly $3 million in salary this year. They also have Daniel McCullers at nose tackle and under contract through 2017. They won’t negotiate a new deal for McLendon this summer.

They won’t do so with any of the others, either. Again, it does not mean some of them won’t be back in 2016, such as William Gay. Will Allen’s contract expired this year and he signed a new deal to return. Gradkowski will want to come back in 2016 and it does not look like the Steelers have anyone else to be No. 2 behind Ben Roethlisberger.

It should be a quiet summer on the negotiating front for the Steelers with the exception of a new deal for Heyward.