The Pittsburgh Steelers cleared some salary cap space on Friday when the team released cornerback William Jackson III, trimming more than $12 million off the team’s salary obligations for the 2023 season.
But as the start of the NFL free agent contract period approaches on Monday, where does that leave Omar Khan and company in terms of being able to spend money?
Not exactly flush.
The Steelers have a team salary cap of $229.2 million for 2023 and currently have just under $218 in salary obligations, counting the team’s top 51 contracts ($209.9 million) and dead money ($8 million) for the 2023 season. That leaves them with $11.3 million to spend before the salary cap officially goes into place at the start of the new league year on Wednesday.
However, the Steelers also have about $11.3 million in expenses that we already know about that will need accounted for between next week and the start of the 2023 season. The Steelers will spend an additional $3.7 million or so on the players that they will select in the 2023 NFL Draft, and will pay around $850,000 in workout bonuses this spring.
Additionally, on the eve of the regular season, the Steelers will have to add the final two contracts to the rolls to get from 51 to 53 ($1.75 million) and sign a practice squad for around $5 million. The team will also have to account for any players placed on the injured reserve between now and then and leave a reserve in order to make in-season moves.
When all is said and done, the Steelers are functionally still over $10 million underwater for the 2023 season. The Steelers won’t need much of that money until the start of the regular season, so Khan can wait to make anticipated moves such as restructuring the contracts of Minkah Fitzpatrick.
So what does all that mean for this week? Right now, Khan can spend $11.3 million. But any amount he spends now, plus another about $10 million, will have to be cleared between now and the start of the season.
There are several ways the team can create additional space.
More must-reads: