We thought the Steelers might try to renegotiate Casey Hampton’s deal to save some money this offseason, but the big boy just decided to take a pay cut instead to help the team out. And that means it looks like a sure thing that the Big Snack will be back for 2012.
Hampton was set to cost the Steelers $ 8 million in salary cap space with a $ 4.89 mil salary and a ******** of bonuses, but the Steelers just couldn’t afford to hang onto a guy that’s going to be 35 this year and is playing on three-time surgically repaired knees holding up a 325-pound frame.
Now, Big Snack has saved the Steelers about $ 3 mil by dropping his base salary to just $ 2.8 mil and tossing out his $ 1 million workout bonus – a move he probably did not mind at all. Does this mean that Hampton will never step foot in the weight room again as long as he’s a Steeler? Who knows. What it does mean is the Steelers are around $ 6 mil under the $ 120.6 mil salary cap after handing out there RFA tenders. And they have even more money to work with now that they’ve got an extra million and change after the Cowboys’ and Redskins’ phantom punishment.
Another restructure here and a few more cuts there and the Steelers could easily be well under the cap by more than $ 10 mil again. And with Colbert & Khan in charge, that’s a very distinct possibility.
Source: Yardbarker: Pittsburgh Steelers
