9:52pm: Heyward will earn $15MM up front in signing/roster bonuses, with $21MM paid over the first eight months, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets.
8:21pm: The Steelers announced that they have signed Cameron Heyward to a new six-year deal, according to Ed Bouchette of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (on Twitter). Heyward, a 2011 first-round pick, was previously due to earn a $6.969MM base salary for the 2015 season. With his new deal, Heyward is now under contract through the 2020 campaign. The deal is worth $59.25MM, according to Bouchette (link).
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Last season, Heyward was the first defensive end to lead the Steelers in sacks in a decade as he and the now-retired Jason Worilds tied with 7.5 apiece. The 26-year-old has appeared in every regular season game for the Steelers since his debut in 2011. Over the last two seasons, he has started 29 games for Pittsburgh and racked up a combined 114 tackles and 12.5 sacks.
We’re still waiting for the full breakdown of the deal, but it sounds like the pact is effectively ~$52.28MM in new money for an additional five years. That puts Heyward in the neighborhood of fellow defensive end Cameron Jordan, who added $55MM and five years on to his deal with the Saints last month. While Jordan’s five-year, $55MM extension includes $33MM guaranteed for injury, just $23.96MM of that is fully guaranteed.
Heyward recently told Robert Klemko of The MMQB that he thinks he can play better than he did in 2014, when he ranked as Pro Football Focus’ sixth-best 3-4 defensive end.
“I hope last year wasn’t a breakout season because I think I can achieve way more,” Heyward said. “I still have a mentality where I think of myself as a bust. I’ve got to prove everybody wrong including myself. I want to get better, and I want to shut people up.”
I think this is going to be one of those contracts that works out well for both sides, as his AAV is just below that of Calais Campbell and Cameron Jordan. But on a macro level, this deal makes me continue to wonder how Corey Liuget was able to get $10.25MM per year.
Yep, once the Jordan extension got done, it seemed like it was just a matter of time until Heyward got a similar deal of his own. Totally agree with you on Liuget too — the Chargers are now on the hook for big-time money to Liguet and Donald Butler on defense, and I’m not sure either player is quite good enough to warrant those salaries.