A number of veterans around the NFL are set to miss OTAs as they aim to land new contracts. That group includes Steelers defensive lineman Cameron Heyward, who will be absent from the team during upcoming OTAs. 
The three-time All-Pro is under contract for one more year with his $65.6MM 2020 extension set to expire. Heyward admitted in January that he needed time to evaluate his future, but he is now committed to continuing his decorated career. As a result, he is angling for an extension while missing voluntary workouts.
When speaking about his situation on his Not Just Football podcast, Heyward said, “[I] have always attended these, but at this time it’s just contract negotiations, and I want to be a Pittsburgh Steeler, but we’ll see what happens” (h/t ESPN’s Brooke Pryor).
Heyward, 35, has spent his entire 13-year career in Pittsburgh, establishing himself as one of the league’s top interior defenders over that span. He racked up six straight Pro Bowls from 2017-22, but last season he was limited to just 11 regular season games due to a groin injury. The Ohio State product – who was healthy in time for the Steelers’ wild-card game – had avoided lengthy absences each season since 2016 prior to his missed time in 2023.
With just two sacks, this past campaign was Heyward’s least productive year since his rookie campaign from a pass rush perspective. He has reached double-digit sacks three times in his career, though, including the 2021 and ’22 seasons. A return to health could once again provide the team with a multitude of options at the defensive tackle spot, and an extension would likely lower Heyward’s 2024 cap hit ($22.4MM).
In Heyward’s absence, the Steelers’ OTAs will include veterans Larry Ogunjobi, Montravius Adams and Dean Lowry along the D-line. Pittsburgh has also invested at the position in the draft in recent seasons with the selections of DeMarvin Leal (2022), Keeanu Benton (2023) and Logan Lee (2024). The latter three will be in the team’s long-term plans, and it will be interesting to see if the same winds up being the case for Heyward.
Disappointing from a team captain.
Not a good way to set a good example for the rest of the team.
I love cam but I never expected to see him do this.
He is under contract. One of which he signed voluntarily. Don’t have a gun to his head. And he missed a bunch of games last year. And still collected his full paycheck. But he wants a new deal?
No thank you
He didn’t say he wasn’t playing, just not attending the OTAs, which are relatively optional for vets like himself. He’s earned it. And would you rather him not look to extend his current contract and play for another team in free agency? You’d make a lousy GM.
On the contrary, any GM who’d buckle to an aging player whose skills are declining would make for “a lousy GM”
I said this on another thread but it bears repeating; there’s no difference between where Hayward is now and where Troy, Hines, Bradshaw, Franco and myriad others were when they were told they should pursue other opportunities. The only reason Cam isn’t being shown the door is the fact that he’s a big community guy. He gives back. I’m taken aback by the idea that as GM, you’d go the sentimental route and extend him another year or two. That’s fiscal insanity
I think the Steelers policy with regards to aging veterans has been pretty consistent over the years as you’ve pointed out. They may have gone the sentimental route during the final years of Big Bens career but they weren’t exactly well positioned draft wise to acquire a replacement, so that’s probably why they made an exception.
Well, they drafted his replacement but being the diva he was/is, he couldn’t bring himself to mentoring the kid because God knows, it’s shameful for a team to plan for the days *after* a superstar retires
As for Cam, the articles are one thing. Seeing and hearing him talk about his hold out being due to “contract negotiations” with the “we’ll see how it goes but I’d like to remain a Steeler” follow up
Sorry. The guy was a good player. He wasn’t Mean Joe or LC.
Here’s hoping the Steelers tell him to take a hike, bad PR and all
Yeah not surprised by the strategy, just very surprised by who’s using it. Seems out of character for Heyward. I get he wants to continue playing and has been an upstanding team-first guy his whole career, maybe he’s earned the right. But he’s also been around for Ben, Troy, Hines, and a couple others that show him the Steelers aren’t afraid to move on when it’s time.
Regardless of what you think of the contract situation (I personally think tacking on a year would be a good gesture to such a franchise stalwart), a 35-year old team captain who’s played 10,000 snaps for the same team and coach really doesn’t need to take the field at OTAs.
You’re missing the point. You’re trying to build a team concept and your captain is saying, “No thanks”
You’re right. Just like baseball, basketball and hockey pros don’t need elongated training periods with exhibition games, neither do football players. But for a guy who likes to trumpet the ideas of leadership and playing for a storied franchise, he’s putting himself before team
Maybe 13 years of strong play, strong leadership, and good citizenry merits not letting a guy dangle in a lame duck season. He doesn’t need to be on the field for OTAs, so this is the most harmless way he could possibly be “putting himself before the team.” God forbid a player look out for his own interests a little in a league where players will be cut loose without a second thought if it suits the team’s interests.
Eventually everyone has a lame duck season. Ben knew he was done.
He’s 35 and coming off a year where he missed games due to injury.
13 years of strong play and leadership gets you paid, which Cam has been. To be honest I think he’s fortunate that the team hasn’t asked him to take a cut.
No one is forcing Cam to play, he’s chosen this game and he knows how the league works. You are acting like the Steelers have done nothing for Cam over the course of his career.
I never said the Steelers never did anything. I also never said he’s being forced to play. He’s sitting out OTAs in pursuit of an extension he may or may not get. I don’t think that’s the outrage some on here seem to think.
I think the “outrage” came when I heard him say, “I’d still like to be a Steeler”
What a card to play
BTW, I think I speak for you when I say nothing in pro or college sports “outrages” me. For years now
I root for teams with “Pittsburgh” emblazoned across the chest.
Where owners and athletes are concerned, it’s all greed I could not care less about
Wait a minute. You’re looking for loyalty in professional sports? Seriously? Maybe when I was a kid. Back then, players actually took jobs in the off season and after retirement to pay bills. Owners had all the advantages. But now?
In the era of multi million dollar contracts, you’re whistling “Glory Hallelujah” as if players haven’t been looking out for their best interests for the past 20 years
Please
He’s owed nothing. He’s been paid better than well.
The end of the 1960s, especially baseball, was the end of loyalty in sports. With the evolution of free agency, loyalty was a lost meaning. Ownership and the players know nothing of loyalty. I know people will say baseball made slaves of players, meaning a player would either need to be traded or retire. The reserve clause ended a with curt flood. Heyward was a great player,WAS, not now. Age and injuries have taken its toll. I wish him luck, but the steelers have always never paid for aging players at their end. They screwed themselves with the selfish Roethlisberger.
Owners still have all the advantages dude. They make more money than the players, have no shelf life on their earnings, incur no injuries or long term health problems in the process, and own a giant appreciating asset that gets taxpayer funding while helping them evade taxes.
Yep. Total agreement there
If he misses mandatory camp he’ll just be another bum who goes back on his word.