A faceoff between the Pittsburgh Steelers and their star defensive tackle is brewing. On Monday, All-Pro tackle Cam Heyward confirmed reports of a hold-in, telling reporters that he was looking for a restructured deal that better represented his 2024 season.
“Honestly, looking to be valued,” Heyward said, when asked what he was looking for with the deal, via Chris Adamski of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review.
The 36-year-old tackle, who has spent his entire NFL career in Pittsburgh, signed a three-year extension with the Steelers last September. But Heyward told reporters on Monday that he had told the Steelers at the time to expect him back at the table this year if he was named All-Pro in 2024.
And Heyward did, earning his fourth First-Team All-Pro honor last season, and his seventh Pro Bowl. He then approached the Steelers to ask for a reworked deal back in February.
“It’s hard for me, after the year that I had, to really justify playing at the number I’m playing at,” Heyward said on Monday, via The Athletic’s Mike DeFabo. “I understand I signed a contract last year. But to be completely honest with you, when I signed that, I told them, ‘When I have an All-Pro year, expect me to come back.'”
Last Thursday, ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported that Heyward hadn’t been fully participating in practice yet, as part of his hold-in. Though Heyward and the Steelers had reportedly talked about the deal privately, they hadn’t made progress in negotiations.
Heyward said Monday that he is also weighing longer-term options to get his deal. The tackle hinted that he would be willing to miss some regular season games in order to get Pittsburgh to re-negotiate.
“I think there are definitely options out there that could reflect that,” Heyward said, when asked if he was prepared to miss regular season games, via ESPN’s Brooke Pryor.
Heyward’s current deal averages out to $14.5 per year, making him the 22nd-highest paid DT in the league, via Over the Cap. (Chris Jones, who earns $31.75 in average annual value off a contract signed last March, is the highest-paid.)
Age could be a factor with Heyward, who is 36 and will be 38 when he would be a free agent off his current deal. But Heyward has not slowed down in the past several years: He started in all 17 games last season, putting up 35 solo tackles, eight sacks, 71 combined tackles and a career-high 11 passes defended.
Heyward didn’t earn his first Pro Bowl nod until he was 28, and then went the next five straight seasons. Since becoming a Pro Bowler in 2017, he has been named to the Pro Bowl every season except for 2023, when he missed two months due to injury. And that season, he was named the Walter Peyton Man of the Year.
More than that, Heyward has made it clear that he wants to spend his entire career with the Steelers.
“There are certain guys who are one-helmet guys,” Heyward said in the team release when he signed his extension last year. “I want to be one of those one-helmet guys.”
Heyward did not play in the Steelers’ preseason game on Saturday, and it seems likely that he will miss more of the preseason until he reaches a new deal.