Is Cameron Heyward serious about his threat toward Steelers?

Longtime Pittsburgh Steelers defensive lineman and team captain Cameron Heyward raised eyebrows when he recently suggested he could forfeit money by sitting out regular-season games if he doesn't receive a desired pay raise. 

During the latest edition of the "North Shore Drive" podcast, Steelers insider Ray Fittipaldo of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette addressed whether or not Heyward is serious about that threat. 

"I think his threat is realistic," Fittipaldo said about Heyward, as shared by Jake Brockhoff of Steelers Depot. "I don't know deep down what he and his agents have calculated...Cam's already been paid 90 percent of his salary this year in the form of that roster bonus. He's making $1.3M in salary this year. Have he and his agents calculated that, yeah, he'd be willing to miss [Pittsburgh's Week 1 game at the New York Jets on Sept. 7]? Who cares? It's $85,000, or whatever that is, pro-rated. They could have calculated that in their mind and said, 'Okay, we are willing to do that.'"

Similar to the situation involving star pass-rusher T.J. Watt, Heyward chose a great time to pursue some additional financial security. After all, the Steelers became a win-now team after they added wide receiver DK Metcalf, cornerback Jalen Ramsey, tight end Jonnu Smith and quarterback Aaron Rodgers to their roster earlier in the offseason.

Meanwhile, Heyward is coming off his fourth first-team All-Pro season of his career. According to Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk, Heyward's current deal ranks him 22nd among defensive tackles and 36th among all defensive linemen in terms of average annual value.  

As for Watt, he reset the market for players at his position when he received a three-year, $123M deal that included $108M guaranteed from the Steelers ahead of training camp. 

Per Josh Carney of Steelers Depot, ESPN's Adam Schefter reported during Tuesday's edition of the "NFL Live" program that Pittsburgh and Heyward have not yet "bridged any of their differences," in part because "it doesn't seem like the Steelers want to pay him right now."

"The Steelers have not had a huge appetite to reward him right now," Schefter added about the 36-year-old. 

Heyward is not fully participating in practices as the Steelers prepare to host the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for a preseason game this coming Saturday. It sounds like he wants Pittsburgh to know that he could remain a spectator through Week 1 if the Steelers don't provide him with additional monetary reasons to take the field at MetLife Stadium on the first Sunday of September.