Salary cap expert breaks down what’s really going on with Pat Freiermuth’s contract after the Steelers restructured his deal
The Pittsburgh Steelers have restructured Pat Freiermuth’s contract, but why and what does it do for them? We break down the details.
The Pittsburgh Steelers, under the direction of general manager Omar Khan, have been at the forefront of what many in and around the league call “salary cap gymnastics.” Khan has always been a maverick when it comes to the numbers, as he was more on the financial side than the scouting side in the front office in Pittsburgh before his hiring as GM.
Well, he’s put those years of studying the cap to test with deals like Patrick Queen, Jamel Dean, and even Aaron Rodgers, which are all viewed as team-friendly. His latest move was the restructure of Pat Freiermuth’s contract, a deal he signed before the start of the 2024 season. But what goes into a restructuring, and why would the Steelers do it? I spoke with A to Z Sports salary cap guru Wendell Ferreira to give context to the situation.
Pat Freiermuth 2025 stats
- 41 receptions.
- 486 receiving yards.
- 4 touchdowns.
What goes into Pat Freiermuth’s cap hit?
“There are different ways to account for a player’s earnings against the salary cap. Base salary counts immediately in full for that season, while a signing bonus can be prorated over up to five years — in Freiermuth’s case, it’s three, through 2028. So teams regularly convert a player’s base into a signing or restructure bonus, creating immediate extra cap space. In reality, it’s not a pay cut. Freiermuth is still making the exact same amount of money, and the timeline of the paychecks doesn’t change either. But the move does change when the money hits the cap.” – Ferreira
In essence, by moving Freiermuth’s base into a restructuring bonus, the Steelers alleviate some of the tension placed on their current cap by changing the timeline of when that money actually hits. It’s an easy solution for the Steelers, and nothing changes on Freiermuth’s end, but what about the risk?
Is there a risk to restructuring Pat Freiermuth’s deal?
“Freiermuth’s cap hit this year goes down by $4.25 million, and the Steelers add $2.125 million to the cap in each of the next two seasons. There’s no actual risk involved, since teams can rollover remaining cap from one year to the next. If a team makes moves like that too frequently, it may eventually lose some flexibility. But that’s not the case with the Steelers, who are not even adding void (fake) years to spread the money further down the road.” – Ferreria
In all, it’s a simple solution to lessen the burden on the cap after the Steelers re-signed Aaron Rodgers and ahead of what could be a busy offseason of contract extensions in Pittsburgh.