Trying to unpack the Cam Heyward vs. Steelers drama is exhausting
If you are like me, you feel like you’re in the movie Groundhog Day as a Pittsburgh Steelers fan.
Wasn’t it less than 365 days ago when we were having the same conversation regarding the Steelers and a potential contract extension for Cam Heyward?
Yet here we are, again.
This time around it isn’t searching for the answer of whether Heyward can still play at a high level, but after signing a 3-year contract extension before last season should he be given the re-done deal he seeks?
There are a lot of facets to this discussion, and it has turned into a very polarizing topic amongst the fan base. There is a very vocal sect of the fan base who is very outward in their disapproval of Heyward requesting a new deal a year after getting an extension.
Fair enough, but is there something wrong with requesting more money from your employer?
For some fans it is difficult to comprehend the numbers being thrown around and somehow have sympathy for what a player and his agent/representation are requesting. But let me put it this way, which might be easier for the average person to wrap their head around.
Let’s run through a scenario where you are granted a new contract at your place of employment. The deal is for three more years, and gives you the security you seek. You are happy with the deal, and after the first year you absolutely go above and beyond, exceeding what most would have thought you were capable of in that year.
You are proud of the work you did, so you go to your employer and suggest a bump in pay after your successful year.
There is nothing wrong with this request. It’s more about how the employer handles the request.
Your employer could agree, knowing the value you bring to the organization, and give you a bump in pay. However, the employer could also tell you how you just signed a new contract extension, and you have to honor your aspect of that deal.
This is the same situation Heyward finds himself in, and the ultimate question is how the Steelers brass will handle this request. Will Omar Khan and Art Rooney II pull an 2017 Antonio Brown situation where they take future funds and move them into this year to appease Heyward? Will they break their rule of not negotiating with players outside of their final year of their contract unless they are a quarterback? Or will they tell Heyward to go kick rocks and honor his contract form last year?
I don’t blame Heyward for asking for more money, but a request doesn’t automatically equate to your request being granted.
This entire situation is a bold move on Heyward’s part, and there is no way around this fact. Heyward himself talked about after signing his new deal last year he told them when he was All-Pro in 2024 he’d be right back at the negotiating table. Cam said there were giggles when he said this, but why wouldn’t Heyward have pushed for an incentive laden deal? Why wouldn’t he put the pressure on himself to perform? The Steelers typically don’t like to do incentives in contracts, but it isn’t as if they’ve never done it before. Aaron Rodgers contract is a base, and guaranteed, $10 million dollars, but could be up to $20 million if the Steelers end up reaching new heights in 2025. Why wouldn’t have Heyward pushed for a deal like that?
In my opinion, this is a game of chicken which will be fascinating to see how it plays out. Will the Steelers do what they did with Antonio Brown in 2017 and move future salaries to this year to appease Heyward? Or will this drag out until closer to the regular season? If I were to predict the Steelers will take care of Heyward without breaking their unwritten rule of not negotiating a new contract with a non-QB outside of the final year of their deal.
Despite that prediction, there is no doubt the Steelers captain has ruffled the feathers of the fan base. Does he care? It’s highly doubtful, but his bold move certainly has repercussions.
How do you think it will shake out? Let us know in the comment section below!
To hear more about my thoughts on this situation, check out the “Let’s Ride” podcast Wednesday in the player below:
I’d be surprised if Cam Heyward didn’t receive the same treatment that Antonio Brown did with regard to an advancement of salary from ’26… it is as you write in the article, a bad look for Heyward, that may have been avoided with forethought.
Hope that this stuff wasn’t the cause of the Steelers recent decrease in net value to 17th in the league…
Just work it out and play football. And I’ve never had one, but I really want a pepperoni roll now#rideordie
My home town Erie, PA has what is called a pepperoni ball, way better than a pepperoni roll
Those look good too! I’m ready for football grub
My father went to college in Erie at Gannon. Nice town.
Erie has an extremely underrated wine industry, particularly for sweet wines which I love. The climate there is custom-made for growing sweet grapes. So much so that Welches has a large factory there for making jellies and juices. It’s not dissimilar to Napa Valley, where I have been to a few times now. The Erie wine industry certainly doesn’t have the same cache as Napa and certainly doesn’t have the same upscale nature. It’s wines are right there with it, though. Heck, I’d bet that there are well over 100 wineries in that grow region that extends from Geneva, Ohio to Buffalo, NY.
Yes, I am a wine geek.
While I have no problem with Cam Heyward asking for more money, I think that the Steelers are justified in telling him, “Sorry, man, that’s not how it works and it’s not how we are going to do business”.
I don’t like comparing pro sports life with real world life but, in this instance, I think that some correlations can be made. Employees aren’t working for their current contract, they are working their next one. An employee outperformed their contract? That’s great! When it’s time for their next one they will get a nice fat raise. A similar employee isn’t doing so well? Well, their next contract will be reduced or not offered to begin with. Either way has nothing to do with here and now as each employee is getting paid what they agreed to no matter how they perform. Insert the Heyward situation.
The Steelers have a well-known mantra of not extending contracts that have more than a year on them (yes, I know that it’s happened a time or two). That policy makes sense in that it protects the Steelers from having to pay players whose play might decline. I don’t care how well he played last year, it’s still more likely that Heyward will be in decline than not and it’s completely reasonable for the Steelers to proceed as such. It’s not the Steelers’ fault that Cam Heyward is 36.
Cam Heyward agreed to a contract that he outperformed. That’s on him. The Steelers are right for keeping their eyes on what what’s likely in the future, though.
I’m trying to think of a job in the “real world” where, if you weren’t happy with your current contract, you could come to work and stand around doing nothing and not get fired. Nothing is coming to mind.
Personally, I am ok with him wanting a new deal. For me it comes to guarantees. If in 2024 his play would have been below the bar, he would no be getting paid in 2026 and possibly on 2025. The Steelers can walk away whenever they want.
In 2024, Cam went out and was an All-Pro. In pro sports your earning time is very limited so you have to get paid when you can. They could easily extend him by a year and bump the contract to three years at $60M with $20M in bonus. That way he gets money and you are likely walking away before the last year. Top guys are getting $20M per year plus.
I know a lot of contract value is about timing, but I do think he earned a raise based upon 2024 performance.
I am ok with Heyward wanting a new deal too. I just don’t think that the Steelers should feel obligated to do it.
I feel the same about the opposite too. Who was it a few years ago, James Harrison maybe? whom the Steelers approached and asked to take a pay cut? I am fine with that with the understanding it’s the player’s choice to accept the reduction or not, not the team’s. Sure, the team can cut them but the player is then free to go sign a new deal somewhere else anyway.
Same thing here. Yeah, Cam outperformed his contract last year and can ask for more. If the Steelers aren’t willing to give it though? Well, that’s just the breaks. Deshaun Watson is getting a boatload of money for doing to bubkis too. It goes both ways.
I don’t care about the financial side of things. If he’s asking for a raise, sobeit. It’s his prerogative. The ONLY thing that I’m confused with is the actual timing.
Unless there was some stipulation in the deal, why address the restructure/raise now and not before preseason? This easily could have been handled without any holdout IMO.