It’s the night before football, and all through the house, not a creature was stirring — except for Steelers’ defensive lineman Cam Heyward and the Pittsburgh front office.
It might’ve taken until the 11th hour, but Heyward ended his contract dispute with the Steelers late Saturday evening. The two sides agreed to what was reported as “over” $3 million in added incentives to his current deal, which had him making $14.75 million in 2025.
Now, if Heyward hits every incentive, he’s expected to make $18
million over the 2025 season per NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport.
The details of the new additions to the veteran defender’s contract have yet to be fully revealed, but Rapoport posted Saturday that the incentives were tied to “playoffs and playoff wins.”
“Oh & Heyward will play,” Rapoport added.
The Steelers have long made a habit of avoiding incentive-laden contracts with non-quarterbacks, something Heyward acknowledged on Friday.
However, while the Steelers broke precedent with Saturday’s contract, they did keep the potential bonuses tied to team achievements, per Rapoport’s report, not individual statistics. They’re tied to something the team has gone without for nearly a decade: a playoff win.
The Steelers took a similar route when the team signed Aaron Rodgers — a quarterback — earlier in the offseason. All but one of Rodgers’ incentives are tied to the team making the playoffs or winning a postseason game in the upcoming season.
NFL rules label incentives as “likely to be earned” (LTBE) or “not likely to be earned” (NLTBE). The former count against the salary cap in the current season; the dollar amount is then added back to the team’s cap space the next year if the player doesn’t hit the incentive, in most cases. NLTBE incentives, if hit, count against the cap the following year.
The LTBE designation is determined on what the team or player achieved in the previous season. So making the playoffs would count as an LTBE incentive for a Steelers player. Winning a playoff game would be NLTBE.
As a result, Heyward’s 2025 cap hit is unlikely to rise much, even with the new contract.
It’s yet to be announced what the exact incentives are in Heyward’s deal. But even if he makes that full $18 million in a hugely successful 2025 for the Pittsburgh Steelers, the first-team All-Pro will still rank outside the top 15 in average per year at his position, per Over the Cap.
