Madden Monday: Steelers must be sensible, not sentimental, when it comes to Cam Heyward's contract

When it comes to Cameron Heyward’s contract situation, Mark Madden of 105.9 The X and TribLIVE is imploring the Pittsburgh Steelers to take a very pragmatic stance.

Be sensible, not sentimental.

The three-time All-Pro defensive lineman is entering the final year of his contract with the franchise. It’s a $22.4 million cap hit. The 35-year-old is coming off an injury-plagued season, yet he is planning to skip organized team activities until or unless he gets a multi-year extension.

Madden says that would be bad business.

“He just doesn’t want voidable years to ease up his cap hit. He wants an extension for more money. They can’t give him one more dollar,” Madden said during this week’s “Madden Monday” podcast. “That’d be ridiculous. A 35-year-old guy who missed six games last year had relatively major core and groin surgery? You can’t get him $1 more, and if that means you cut him, you cut him.”

It’s Madden’s opinion that the Steelers can’t get baited into making a decision on Heyward’s future through the lens of who he is off the field. Indeed, Heyward is viewed as a team leader, and he just won the NFL’s Walter Payton Man of the Year award. However, in terms of investing in Heyward’s future at his advanced age for the position he plays, Madden says that would be a mistake.

“I don’t care if he’s the Walter Payton Man of the Year. I don’t care if he won the Nobel Peace Prize,” Madden said. “This is about doing what is sensible for your football team. And giving him even one dollar more is not sensible.”

That said, Madden seems to think Heyward is going to position his contract negotiations from that point of view — prey on public sentiment and social media guilt-tripping and try to get his contract extension that way.

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After all, other players such as T.J. Watt and Diontae Johnson who have staged “hold-ins” in recent years have gotten their way from the team under similar situations. As of now, Heyward is due $16 million in cash as a base salary.

“I think he thinks they’re a soft organization, which they have proven to be, and they’re just gonna give him what he wants for PR sake,” Madden said. “I’ve always respected the guy and what he’s brought to the table on and off the field. But now he’s 35, and all that crap about community and leadership, it doesn’t matter as much to me when you ain’t won a playoff game in seven years and are very unlikely to do so this year.”

Also, in the podcast, Madden and I discuss the Steelers’ 2024 schedule, Paul Skenes being pulled with a no-hitter intact Friday, the looming Brayden Yager-Evgeni Malkin dynamic with the Penguins and T.J. McConnell’s success in the NBA playoffs.