Updating the Steelers salary cap situation after the initial wave of free agency

The Pittsburgh Steelers have kicked off the official start of the 2025 league year. With business heating up, I am ready to make some updates to my numbers for the salary cap availability for the Steelers. While reports come in about a deal, it can sometimes take some time to know the exact financials within the contract. Relying heavily on reliable salary cap websites such as overthecap.com (OTC) or spotrac.com, when they are able to report a player’s contract numbers over the specific years I then update the salary cap situation with a more precise number.

Remember, to determine how much each player changes the Steelers’ salary cap space, their cap number must be adjusted due to roster displacement. As a reminder, roster displacement is taking into account only the top 51 contracts for a team count towards the salary cap during the offseason. As a larger contract comes on the books, it bumps a smaller contract out of the top 51. Therefore, it’s only the difference in those contracts that increases the salary cap number.

Since my last update, OTC has counted the offseason workout amounts for each team as part of their salary cap. The total comes to $907,200. Any of that amount the Steelers do not use this spring will be given back towards the salary recap, typically in August.

I’ll be honest, I was reluctant to do a salary cap update because so many of the contracts have not been reported by OTC or Spotrac. But if I continue to wait, it could become overwhelming all at once. So of all the move the Steelers have made, they fit into three different categories.

First, there are contracts that have gone through that are recorded on one of the two major outlets. Those include Jaylen Warren being tendered as a restricted free agent, the release of Larry Ogunjobi, the signings of Malik Harrison and Kenneth Gainwell, and the DK Metcalf trade, but not his new deal. Jaylen Warren‘s contract is for $5,346,000 and the Steelers saved $7 million by releasing  Larry Ogunjobi. I did not count either of those with a roster displacement and instead had them displace each other.

Malik Harrison signed a two-year deal worth $10 million with $5.25 million paid this year and $4.75 million as next year‘s base salary. It breaks down to a $1.17 million base salary in 2025 and a $4.08 million signing bonus. After prorating that bonus into two years, Harrison’s cap number for 2025 is $3.21 million. Displacing Ryan Watt’s salary out of the top 51, which was $885,671, Harrison cost the Steelers just over $2.3 million against this year‘s cap.

The final full contract which is recorded is Kenneth Gainwell who signed a $1.79 million contract for one year. With it being a one-year deal, all of that money goes towards the 2025 salary cap. After displacing Logan Lee out of the top 51 with an $895,018 contract, Gainwell counts less than $900 K against the cap.

There is one more contract that is recorded, but it’s not complete. Right now the trade for DK Metcalf has gone through at both OTC and Spotrac still have his old contract on the books. It’s an $18 million base salary that’s left for Metcalf on his deal with Seattle and that is the amount that they have at this time. I believe his reported five-year deal for $150 million will have a first year cap hit of around half of what he has now. But just to be safe, I’m going to hold Metcalf’s position at $18 million, and after it displaces a $960 K contract the overall deduction from the cap space is $17.16 million. I will make an adjustment to this when the numbers of his new deal are finalized.

The next category are contracts that aren’t fully recorded with one of these outlets but I believe I know the amount. Darius Slay was reported to have a one-year, $10 million fully guaranteed contract. I’m throwing that number in there for now, and after it displaces a $960 K contract it ultimately costs $9.04 million.

The other contract not recorded by either outlet that I believe I know is the exclusive rights contract for Ryan McCollum. Based on his years experience, his salary should be $1.03 million for this season. Because it displays a $960 K contract, it only costs $70 K after displacement.

The final category of players are ones who have had some or no numbers reported but not enough to actually give a value at this time. Perhaps if I get a little better numbers, even if it’s not from OTC or Spotrac, I’ll go ahead and add them soon. It’s the contracts for Brandin Echols, Scotty Miller, Ben Skowronek, Mason Rudolph, Daniel Ekuale, Juan Thornhill, or Isaiahh Loudermilk that are not known at this time.

Here is the approximate breakdown of the Steelers salary cap space after some of the most recent deals by my own calculations. The numbers below are strictly the salary cap hit for each player in 2025.

Steelers salary cap space heading into free agency: Approximately $63.69 million

Workout Bonuses: Held until unused is refunded in the fall -$0.9072
Jaylen Warren: $5.346 million fro 2nd round RFA tender; No displacement: -$5.346 million
Larry Ogunjobi: Saves $7 million; No displacement: +$7 million
Malik Harrison: Reported $3.21 million; After displacement: -$2.324329 million
Kenneth Gainwell: Reported $1.79 million; After displacement: -$0.894982 million
DK Metcalf: Current $18 million; After displacement: -$17.16 million*
Ryan McCollum: ESTIMATED $1.03 million; After displacement: -$0.07 million
Darius Slay: ESTIMATED $10 million; After displacement: -$9.04 million
Brandin Echols: No Report: TBD
Scotty Miller: No Report: TBD
Ben Skowronek: No Report: TBD
Mason Rudolph: No Report: TBD
Daniel Ekuale: No Report: TBD
Juan Thornhill: No Report: TBD
Isaiahh Loudermilk: No Report: TBD

*His new deal with the Steelers is not yet reflected

Approximate salary cap space: Approximately $35 million

So how does my salary cap number compare to those reported by the major salary cap websites?

According to overthecap.com (OTC), the Steelers are $44,059,784 under the salary cap as of Tuesday night. OTC has a slightly different number for DK Metcalf and they do not have the contracts for Darius Slay and Ryan McCollum. Otherwise, we have the exact same number.

Another credible salary cap website is spotrac.com, which has the Steelers at $46,066,775 as of Tuesday night. Differences here are they do not have the salaries for Darius Slay, Ryan McCollum, and Kenneth Gainwell. Also, they do not have the offseason workouts counting against the salary cap. Additionally, Spotrac counts the potential dead money hit for players not in the top 51 even though it does not need to count against the cap at this time until those players are officially released.

While the Steelers are going to need cap space for a number of things this offseason, it doesn’t have to be at this time. The Steelers will need as much as an additional $15 million, with $13 million not needed until September. The Steelers are estimated to need about $2 million to sign their rookie class after displacement based on their current draft picks. Expenses in September include when they need to account for all 53 players on the roster (about $1.8 million), sign their practice squad (between $4 million and $4.5 million), and have some carryover in order to do business throughout the year (about $7 million). But even taking these things into effect now, which they do not need to do as there are other moves which could be made to save some cap space, the Steelers have plenty of room in order to still be active in free agency.

Does something not make sense? Curious about any of the specifics? Leave your questions in the comments below and I will check in and do my best to answer them.