For the second straight summer, Pittsburgh Steelers defensive tackle Cameron Heyward is skipping on-field drills while he waits for a new contract. The 35-year-old veteran — fresh off an All-Pro campaign — is making it clear he wants to be paid like one of the league’s elite interior defenders.
Heyward still has two years left on his current deal, which will pay him $14.75 million in 2025 and $14.5 million in 2026. Those numbers rank him 22nd among interior defensive linemen and 36th among all defensive linemen in annual salary — a figure Heyward feels doesn’t reflect his value. “Honestly, I’d love to be valued,” Heyward told reporters after Monday’s practice. “I know what I bring to this team and what I’m capable of, on and off the field. So, it’s hard for me to, after the year I’ve had, to really justify playing at the number I’m playing at.”
This isn’t a surprise move for the Steelers’ front office. Heyward says that when he signed his two-year extension last September, he told the team to expect him back at the bargaining table if he delivered an All-Pro season. That’s exactly what he did in 2024, posting eight sacks, 71 tackles (12 for loss), and 11 pass deflections, earning his seventh Pro Bowl nod in the process. “I think everybody kind of giggled a little bit,” Heyward said of that conversation. “I used it as motivation.”
While Heyward has made it clear he’s willing to sit into the regular season if necessary, there’s precedent for optimism. Last year’s deal wasn’t finalized until early September, just before Week 1. Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin downplayed the current hold-in, and with the season opener against the Jets still weeks away, there’s time for both sides to work out a resolution that keeps one of the NFL’s top defensive leaders happy in Pittsburgh.
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