The Pittsburgh Steelers are currently sitting with plenty of salary cap space ahead of the 2024 NFL draft. While there is enough space to conduct business, the Steelers will have other needs by September. They do not have enough space for future expenses at this time, but needing the money in September versus now is a whole different story.

Whether it is for use at this time or to prepare for a later date, it has been reported by NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport the Pittsburgh Steelers have restructured Alex Highsmith’s contract, creating more than $7 million in salary cap space for 2024.

The #Steelers have done a simple restructure of the salary of pass-rusher Alex Highsmith to create more than $7M in salary cap space, source said. A little breathing room.

— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) April 24, 2024

For many who follow the Steelers salary cap, a restructure of Highsmith was not a question of “if” but “when.” Following the pattern of the Steelers over the last several seasons, the most likely time for a player to restructure their contract is the next season after the deal is signed, when there are maximum years remaining to spread out the cap hit. The Steelers did so with Minkah Fitzpatrick last offseason and with T.J. Watt two offseasons ago. Remember, a restructure does not pay a player any more or less, but simply moves their base salary into a signing bonus to count against the salary rcap at a later time.

If the Steelers restructured the Highsmith contract for the maximum amount, they would have converted just over $9.6 million of what was to be more than $10.7 million of his base salary for 2024 into a signing bonus. By doing so, it split up this amount to count towards the salary cap in the four remaining years of Highsmith’s deal. With so many years remaining, it only adds $2.4 million towards Highsmith’s salary cap number in each of the next three seasons. In doing so, it would save the Steelers $7.206 million on the 2024 salary cap. This is assuming the Steelers restructured Highsmith for the maximum amount and left him with a minimum base salary for this season of $1.125 million. Any amount in base salary avoe this would slightly lower the salary cap savings.

By making this move, the Steelers now sit with more than $18 million in salary cap space for the 2024 season. When it comes to the expenditures the Steelers will eventually need, those are estimated to be around $16 million with $13 million not needed until September.

So does this mean the Steelers are freeing up cap space to make a move? As we’ve seen throughout the 2024 offseason, nothing is off the table. Even if the Steelers do make a significant move, there are still other ways to free up money for the 2024 season if the Steelers choose to restructure other players such as Watt or Fitzpatrick, or to work out an extension with Cam Hayward.

Stay tuned to Steel Curtain Network’s continued coverage of the 2024 NFL offseason and the upcoming NFL draft.