The 2018 NFL franchise tag period will get underway on Tuesday and with that being a prime date on the league’s annual calendar, now is great time to look at the Pittsburgh Steelers current 2018 salary cap situation.

Quite a bit has changed since the 2017 season ended as the Steelers have signed several players to future contracts in addition to re-signing quite a few of the players who were scheduled to become either restricted or exclusive rights free agents in March. If that’s not enough, the Steelers have also now restructured the contracts of defensive end Stephon Tuitt and David DeCastro and those two transactions collectively cleared more than $13.26 million in 2018 salary cap space.

Below is a look at the 62 players the Steelers currently have under contract for 2018 in addition to the list of dead money the team currently has on the books for the year. When factoring the Rule of 51 total for the Steelers and then subtracting the $4,040,611 leftover cap space from 2017 that will rollover, Pittsburgh is roughly $4,691,775 under a projected cap number of $178 million. Remember, the 2018 salary cap number is very likely to come in higher than $178 million so keep that in mind while looking at the recap below.

Please be advised that the cap charges I have below for tight end Jesse James, wide receiver Martavis Bryant and punter Jordan Berry are all estimates as we’ll need the official restricted tender amounts for 2018 before we’ll know the real charges for those three players. James and Bryant, as I mentioned in my last salary cap update, are due Proven Performance Escalators in 2018 so that’s why we need the official restricted tender amounts in order to have their correct cap charges.

As I mentioned in my last update, there are quite a few expenditures the Steelers will need to eventually account for as the offseason progresses. Those expenditures include offseason workout bonuses, draft rookie pool offsets, a ten-man practice squad, a 52nd and 53rd player, an injury benefit claim and leftover cap space for in-season moves. While I’m not including those amounts below in order to give you a real-time look at where the Steelers currently are cap-wise, one must be advised that those are real forthcoming charges.

Now, the real-time cap number below also doesn’t account for running back Le’Veon Bell being issued the franchise tag. Additionally, the Steelers still have a few soon-to-be restricted free agents they are likely to issue tenders to in the coming weeks. The franchise tag amount for Bell will be $14.54 million should the Steelers issue it in the coming weeks. As for a few restricted free agents likely to receive tenders in the coming weeks, that list is expected to include kicker Chris Boswell, outside linebacker Anthony Chickillo and maybe even wide receiver Eli Rogers.

In short and summation, the Steelers will need a lot more salary cap room and very soon at that if Bell is to receive the franchise tag again this offseason. We can probably expect a few more contract restructures to be reported very soon and a few roster cuts as well.

Just prior to the start of the new league year in March is when I will provide the next Steelers salary cap update for you.

UNDER CONTRACT PLAYER BASE SALARY CAP CHARGE Ben Roethlisberger $12,000,000 $23,200,000 Antonio Brown $7,875,000 $17,675,000 Cameron Heyward $9,000,000 $12,456,250 Joe Haden $9,000,000 $11,916,666 Maurkice Pouncey $7,000,000 $10,551,000 Ryan Shazier $8,718,000 $8,718,000 Mike Mitchell $5,000,000 $8,135,418 Alejandro Villanueva $3,000,000 $7,625,000 Marcus Gilbert $4,050,000 $7,358,500 David DeCastro $790,000 $5,687,500 Stephon Tuitt $790,000 $5,432,000 Vance McDonald $3,700,000 $4,318,750 J.J. Wilcox $3,125,000 $3,800,000 Tyson Alualu $3,000,000 $3,625,000 Ramon Foster $2,675,000 $3,591,668 Bud Dupree $1,692,585 $2,934,364 Artie Burns $1,321,908 $2,615,723 Vince Williams $2,000,000 $2,500,000 William Gay $1,750,000 $2,383,334 Landry Jones $1,900,000 $2,200,000 T.J. Watt $885,855 $2,104,275 Jesse James $1,940,000 $1,992,228 Jordan Berry $1,940,000 $1,940,000 Martavis Bryant $1,940,000 $1,940,000 Robert Golden $1,475,000 $1,891,668 Coty Sensabaugh $1,400,000 $1,612,500 Roosevelt Nix $1,000,000 $1,437,500 Darrius Heyward-Bey $1,200,000 $1,333,334 Sean Davis $821,542 $1,114,627 JuJu Smith-Schuster $655,717 $953,586 Javon Hargrave $691,000 $864,314 Cameron Sutton $587,400 $771,432 Jerald Hawkins $630,000 $762,622 Leterrius Walton $705,000 $734,232 James Conner $555,000 $731,572 L.J. Fort $705,000 $705,000 Joshua Dobbs $555,000 $694,781 Tyler Matakevich $630,000 $645,763 B.J. Finney $630,000 $630,000 Dashaun Phillips $630,000 $630,000 Kameron Canaday $630,000 $630,000 Xavier Grimble $630,000 $630,000 Brian Allen $555,000 $612,547 Keion Adams $555,000 $571,507 Antonio Crawford $555,000 $555,000 Jordan Dangerfield $555,000 $555,000 Matt Feiler $555,000 $555,000 Matt Wile $555,000 $555,000 Mike Hilton $555,000 $555,000 Casey Sayles $480,000 $480,000 Darnell Leslie $480,000 $480,000 Farrington Huguenin $480,000 $480,000 Jake McGee $480,000 $480,000 James Summers $480,000 $480,000 Justin Thomas $480,000 $480,000 Keith Kelsey $480,000 $480,000 Lavon Hooks $480,000 $480,000 Malik Golden $480,000 $480,000 Marcus Tucker $480,000 $480,000 Matt Galambos $480,000 $480,000 Tevin Jones $480,000 $480,000 Trey Griffey $480,000 $480,000 TOTAL UNDER CONTRACT $119,349,007 $181,672,661 DEAD MONEY PLAYER CAP CHARGE Senquez Golson $292,462 James Harrison $250,000 Sammie Coates $157,879 David Johnson $117,500 Colin Holba $96,996 Francis Kallon $8,000 Ethan Cooper $6,667 Keith Kelsey $6,667 Rushel Shell $5,000 Nelson Adams $3,334 Terrish Webb $3,334 Scott Orndoff $3,334 Christian Brown $2,334 Matt Galambos $1,334 Phazahn Odom $1,334 TOTAL DEAD MONEY $956,175 2017 CAP ROLLOVER $4,040,611 RULE OF 51 TOTAL $177,348,836 PROJECTED 2018 SALARY CAP $178,000,000 OVER/UNDER CAP UNDER $4,691,775

Transaction Recap

02/10/2018 – Restructured contracts of DE Stephon Tuitt and G David DeCastro.

02/10/2018 – Signed FB Roosevelt Nix to a new four-year deal.

02/09/2018 – Signed OL B.J. Finney to a one-year contract extension.

02/01/2018 – Signed P Jordan Berry to a one-year contract extension.

01/31/2018 – Signed OL Matt Feiler to a one-year contract extension.

01/29/2018 – Signed WR Trey Griffey, WR Tevin Jones and RB James Summers to Reserve/Future contracts.

01/19/2018 – Signed S Malik Golden, LB Darnell Leslie and P Matt Wile to Reserve/Future contracts.

01/18/2018 – Signed DE Casey Sayles to Reserve/Future contract.

01/16/2018 – Signed CB Mike Hilton to a one-year contract extension.

01/16/2018 – Signed DE Lavon Hooks, LB Keith Kelsey, WR Justin Thomas and WR Marcus Tucker to Reserve/Future contracts.

01/15/2018 – Signed S Jordan Dangerfield, LB Matt Galambos, LB Farrington Huguenin, TE Jake McGee, CB Dashaun Phillips to Reserve/Future contracts.

01/15/2018 – Signed TE Xavier Grimble and LS Kameron Canaday to one-year contract extensions.