Pittsburgh Steelers star defensive tackle Cameron Heyward insinuated Monday that he is willing to sit out some regular-season games to get a better contract.
The disgruntled Heyward has been with the team in training camp but recently began sitting out practice sessions amid a hold-in.
“My goal is to be out here, and I don’t know what’s going to happen,” Heyward told reporters on Monday. “I’ve had to be honest with myself to be ready for every option. And has it gone the way I wanted to go? No.
“If it did, I would be out there playing and practicing, but I’d like to put this in the rearview mirror and worry about ball and worry about the New York Jets (in) Week 1.”
Heyward, a seven-time Pro Bowl selection, signed a two-year, $29 million extension with the Steelers last September. It keeps him with the team through the 2026 season.
Defensive player salaries have spiked upwards and Pittsburgh linebacker T.J. Watt received a three-year, $123 million deal in the offseason with $108 million guaranteed. The $41 million annual average set a record for defensive players.
The 36-year-old Heyward wants his piece of the financial pie.
“I’m looking to be valued,” Heyward said. “… 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, after the year I’ve had (in 2024), to really justify playing at the number I’m playing at.
“I understand. I signed a contract last year, but to be completely honest with you, when I signed that, I told him when I have an All-Pro year expecting me to come back and you can look at the contract and see what it was. But I think everybody kind of giggled a little bit, but in my head, I used it as motivation to go out there and prove it.”
Heyward earned first-team All-Pro honors last season for the fourth time in a career that began with the Steelers in 2011. He had 71 tackles, eight sacks and a career-high 11 pass breakups last season.
Heyward has 88.5 career sacks in 211 games (176 starts). He will likely warrant heavy Pro Football Hall of Fame consideration after his career ends.
Pittsburgh coach Mike Tomlin isn’t overly concerned with the stalemate between Heyward and club management.
“It’s just a component of big business,” Tomlin told reporters. “It’s not exclusive to us or to Cam. It’s going on in a lot of locations.
“The great thing about it is we’ve had good relations with Cam since he’s been here. He’s been a heck of a Steeler. We communicate formally and informally. I imagine it’ll remain the same, and we’ll find a way to see our way through these things.”
–Field Level Media
