Steelers Now
The Pittsburgh Steelers agreed to a two-year contract extension with strong safety DeShon Elliott late on Monday night, keeping the defensive back in the Steel City through the end of the 2027 season.
It’s the time of the year for contract extensions, as the Steelers finally turn the page in the offseason to that portion of business, which begs the question, who is next after Elliott?
The Steelers have plenty of cap space and plenty of cash on hand to spend, so neither of those financial roadblocks will apply to the team and its other starters on expiring contracts. Instead, it will be about the timing of the deals and whether one or both parties will think they’ll have an advantage by waiting until the future.
Austin is an interesting case. The Steelers would probably do well to get out in front what looks like it could be a career year for Austin, with no one other than DK Metcalf ahead of him on the depth chart and the team likely to throw more with Aaron Rodgers at the helm of the offense.
Of course, that also could make waiting on a deal lucrative for Austin. At the end of minicamp, he said he hasn’t even thought about the idea of an extension this offseason, and that he was expecting such a deal, should it happen, to come next year.
Warren signed his one-year tender as a restricted free agent to return to the Steelers in 2025, but that came instead of him holding out for a long-term deal. The real question is why. Warren was a in no-win situation, with the Steelers holding his rights. He didn’t have much leverage. And as a former undrafted free agent, he will be seeing money at least representative of his talent for the first time in his NFL career.
But the team’s presumptive No. 1 running back will also now enter the season in the final year of his contract. Will the Steelers want to rectify that situation, or instead wait and see what Kenneth Gainwell and Kaleb Johnson bring to the table before locking up Warren long term?
Watt has caused the most noise about not being under contract beyond 2025, holding out of OTAs and minicamp, but almost everyone on the South Side expects a deal to eventually get done between the Steelers and the former NFL Defensive Player of the Year.
The only question — and the one that seems to be bothering Watt — is when.
Seumalo told me at the Pro Bowl this February that he hasn’t considered retiring, but that he also hadn’t at that point considered his contract status beyond the 2025 season.
“I still have a love for the game and passion and preparation,” he said. “So, you know, I haven’t really thought about it too much. … I just try to show up on game day...
