PFF Monson: Cameron Heyward Extension ‘A Tough Sell’ After Injury, Declining Play In 2023

The Pittsburgh Steelers have quite the decision ahead of them when it comes to Cameron Heyward’s current contract negotiation. He has been a leader of the team and the heart and soul of the defense for at least the last nine seasons, and his play has been at the level of a future Hall of Famer for several years now.

But at the end of the day, the NFL is a business, and it wouldn’t be good business to make decisions based on past play. Anytime a player is extended, it is because the team believes they are going to be able to continue playing at a high level and producing for the franchise. At 35 years old and coming off an injury-plagued season that hampered his production, how confident are the Steelers that Cameron Heyward can bounce back not just in 2024, but for the three total years he wants to play before retiring?

“I think it’s a tough sell at this point to give him another sort of significant money contract. He’s obviously earned it from his NFL career of course, in terms of loyalty, in terms of what he’s done for the organization. You could justify it in those terms,” said Sam Monson of Pro Football Focus on the Game On! podcast. “Last year was the first year it wasn’t as good. He was banged up and at 35 years old, those are red flags.”

He goes on to talk about Bill Belichick’s saying that he would rather move on from a player a year too early than a year too late. That mostly served Belichick well, but they didn’t give in to Tom Brady’s contract demands in 2019, and he ended up winning a Super Bowl during his first year away from the team with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

These situations obviously aren’t a one-to-one comparison, but it just goes to show that Belichick’s methodology is not flawless.

“When you get a guy getting on in age, you’re looking for, when does he start getting banged up? When does his play start to decline,” Monson said. “And whether or not it was just an unlucky year, you saw both of those last season for Heyward. So I think it’s just a really tough ask to re-up him.”

This is where it gets difficult. He returned to play, but was clearly not 100-percent at any point during the 2023 season. He couldn’t run, and even admitted himself that he was basically playing on one leg. So do you buy into the possibility that the injury was just an unlucky and isolated event that was responsible for the decline in production? You could just as easily look at his age and think that it is bound to happen all over again moving forward.

Cameron Heyward had only missed two games dating back to 2017 prior to the injury last season. And in 2022, he had double-digit sacks and made the Pro Bowl. Whether or not he can get back to playing at that level is the (multi) million dollar question. He currently carries the second-largest cap hit on the team. If they can figure out a way to extend him and lower that to be more in line with his age and the potential risks that presents to the franchise, then great. But he has said multiple times that he isn’t looking for a pay cut and he still believes he is a top-five player at the position.

Personally, I don’t see a huge incentive for the Steelers to extend Heyward until next offseason. It seems unlikely he would hold out for a season, and I don’t see why he would turn down a deal next offseason if he ends up earning it.