Lawrence Timmons is heading to Latrobe for training camp in the last year of his current contract. The Steelers are a team that will extend their own with one year left on their deal, and typically they get the deal done early into camp. However, in the case of Timmons, while the two sides have talked, they are reportedly “not close” to reaching a deal before the season starts.

Timmons and the Steelers are both in a tricky position when it comes to these negotiations. To start, Timmons is being a bit overpaid this season. His base salary of $8.5 million is third most of any linebacker, and his cap hit of over $15 million is second of all linebackers behind only Justin Houston.

The reason his cap hit is so high this year is because the Steelers have been restructuring his 5-year, $47-million contract every season since he signed the deal in 2011. The money they owed him has finally caught up with them.

While Timmons may not be worth the price tag this season, he has been a consistent rock for the Steelers. He has started 85 consecutive games for the Steelers and has recorded 70 tackles in five of the last six seasons.

At the same time, Timmons is now 30, and his play is declining. CBS Sports ranked him as the Steelers most overrated player, and he had been subbed off of the field last season more often than any season since taking over as a starter.

While the Steelers could extend him, and find a way to push down his cap number this year, they may not even need to. The Steelers have over $4 million in cap space as they enter camp which gives them room to sign a low-end player if an injury were to happen. They may not need more cap space this season, and can finally swallow the final piece of his deal.

Therefore the Steelers do not have to sign Timmons this offseason at all. They can let him play out the deal, see how they feel about someone like Vince Williams, and monitor if Timmons is still declining. At that point, if they think they can get another year or two out of Timmons, it becomes time to talk deals.

Timmons has been with the team since 2007, and given his age and performance, it would be a surprise to see a team wow Timmons away with a big extension this offseason. Timmons may even see the market and understand where the Steelers offer is coming from.

With that said, it would not be a surprise to see the Steelers enter the season without a contract done. At the same time, it is still more likely than not that Timmons will be with the Steelers in 2017.