Steelers Now
The big move of the Pittsburgh Steelers offense has finally come to pass, with the team agreeing to a contract with quarterback Aaron Rodgers on the eve of minicamp last week.
Rodgers contract has a number of complicated incentives, but now that those have been reported, we can calculate the team’s remaining salary cap space — and important step, considering the club is still hotly pursuing receiver help and wants to sign outside linebacker T.J. Watt to a contract extension.
Rodgers’ contract includes a base salary of $3.65 million and a $10 million signing bonus, which is the only guaranteed portion of his one-year deal. He also has a series of incentives, including for making the playoffs and winning in all four rounds, as well as a $1.5 million bonus if he earns his fifth NFL MVP.
The way that contract incentives are calculated into the salary cap depends on whether they are considered likely or unlikely to be earned. Rodgers’ first bonus of $500,000 is considered likely to be earned, because the Steelers made the playoffs last season.
Likely to be earned incentives are counted against this year’s cap hit, whether they happen or not. Not likely to be earned incentives are not counted this year, even if they actually happen. Then the difference between likely and actual will be squared in 2026.
So no matter what happens with his incentives, Rodgers’ cap hit will be $14.15 million for the 2025 season.
How has that changed the team’s overall salary cap picture? The Steelers currently have over $19 million in offseason salary cap space, according to Steelers Now’s estimate.
Offseason salary cap space can be deceiving. General manager Omar Khan can’t spend all the money in the Steelers’ coffers. The Steelers will have some expenses between now and the start of the season that while known, are not yet on the books. Those include offseason workout bonuses, the final two players on the 53-man roster (only 51 count in the offseason), a practice squad, players on the injured reserve (where Donald Parham will cost $540,000 this season), and a buffer for in-season moves.
Those items will functionally reduce the team’s ability to spend by about $12.5 million. Because those items won’t hit the ledger until later in the summer, the Steelers can actually over-spend now and figure out how to get back under the cap later.
So the Steelers have plenty of cap space to sign or trade for a wide receiver, a tight end, and maybe even add a cornerback to the rotation.
The Steelers can even make a whole lot more cap space if they want to. The forthcoming Watt contract extension will almost certainly reduce his cap hit, and possibly significantly. The Steelers could also restructure the contract of players like Alex Highsmith, Cam Heyward, Minkah Fitzpatrick and Pat Freiermuth to make more salary cap space.
A couple of veterans that have been...
