Cam Heyward Extension Perfect Move at Perfect Time for Pittsburgh Steelers

The Pittsburgh Steelers took care of their largest remaining piece of unfinished offseason business last week, signing defensive end Cam Heyward to a six-year, $59.25 million contract extension.

The deal, which runs through the 2020 season, includes $15 million in guaranteed money and makes him the team's highest-paid defensive player. The timing couldn't have been better for both Heyward and the Steelers.

Heyward is coming off of the best season of his four-year career, following up a strong 2013 campaign by tying for the most sacks on the Steelers' defense, with 7.5, while totaling 53 combined tackles. He was Pro Football Focus' sixth-ranked 3-4 defensive end for 2014, and though the site ranked him 16th as a run-stopper, he was named the league's fifth-best 3-4 end in pass-rushing situations.

Heyward has showed steady improvement since being selected in the first round of the 2011 draft and has now become one of the team's defensive leaders and top performers. A contract extension seemed inevitable prior to training camp this year, and getting this taken care of now means they can hold on to Heyward for the long term while not overpaying for his services.

Year	Comb.T	Sack	QB Hit	QB Hurry	FF	FR	PD
2011	11	1.0	4	6	1	0	1
2012	20	1.5	1	5	0	0	0
2013	59	5.0	7	34	0	1	7
2014	53	7.5	10	36	0	0	4
Total	143	15.0	22	81	1	1	12

As ESPN's Jeremy Fowler pointed out in May, Heyward is not the only 3-4 defensive end in the NFL who had been staring down a contract extension. The New York Jets' Muhammad Wilkerson, the New Orleans Saints' Cameron Jordan and the Kansas City Chiefs' Dontari Poe are also in line to get new deals in the near future. By getting his deal done first, Cameron can set the market for these other three players, rather than the other way around.

Fowler noted that the top five highest-paid 3-4 defensive ends averaged $14.66 million in guaranteed money, and Heyward's contract reflects that average. But the deal also saves the Steelers money in the short and long term.

Heyward's total cap hit drops from $6.97 million to $6.4 million this year. It also eliminates the Steelers having to pick up Heyward's fifth-year option for 2016, worth $7 million, before then re-signing him to a longer-term deal, which would force the Steelers into paying out the $7 million plus whatever his new contract would be worth.

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Further, Heyward could easily have a better season than he did last year. Which could have made his price tag rise even higher if the Steelers had put off his extension until next year, even beyond that nagging $7 million fifth-year option that has now been eliminated.

So while Heyward may acknowledge that "It's nice to know I've got six years to put [being concerned about a contract] on the back burner and just worry about football," the Steelers don't have to worry about Heyward becoming such a superstar this year that they have to commit even more of their cap space to his contract.

Not only does extending Heyward's contract now help the defense for 2015 and beyond, it could also help other key positions. Now, the Steelers can focus on what it may take to extend the contracts of offensive tackle Kelvin Beachum, nose tackle Steve McLendon, guard Ramon Foster or cornerback William Gay—potentially even doing so later this summer.

According to OvertheCap.com, after Heyward's extension, the Steelers now have just over $8.1 million in salary cap space, and they could easily use a chunk of that to extend the contracts of at least one of these other players. Heyward was the first domino the Steelers needed to fall before thinking about their futures.

Pittsburgh's defense needs Heyward. But the Steelers also need to keep him around at a price that is reasonable for both sides. Now they have taken care of this very important business, the Steelers can move forward on contract talks with other players and not have to worry about the future of the defensive end position.