Pittsburgh Steelers Sets Self-imposed Salary Cap

The Pittsburgh Steelers announced that they will continue to operate as if a salary cap were in place. As of now, the NFL has not yet come up with a collective bargaining agreement, making the upcoming season an uncapped season. In an uncapped year, teams usually have the tendency to spend freely in order to attract quality free agents. Despite this opportunity, the Steelers have decided to set their own salary cap for the next season if the league reaches no agreement before the fall. If no labor deal exists by this fall, it will be the first time since 1993 that NFL teams can freely spend as much as they want on salaries without restrictions. Colbert on the team’s decision The team’s decision can put them at a competitive disadvantage if big revenue teams decide to spend freely. Teams like the Washington Redskins and the Dallas Cowboys have been known for their tendency to spend. Colbert believes that the team’s common sense approach to the upcoming uncapped year is the right one. He explains that all NFL teams are dealing with a new situation. “No one’s been in an uncapped year since 1993, so it’s a whole different era and no one knows how this will play out,” Colbert added in a statement to the AP. He also points out that if there’s going to be a new labor deal at some point, nobody can say right away what the new rules are going to be. Colbert defends their common sense approach saying that in the event where salary caps are put back in place, the team will not be in a situation where they “have to do something to undo what you did”. It is a possibility that the next labor contract will contain cap-like restrictions. The question remains though on how much. Last season, the league had a floor of $111 million and a cap of $128 million, meaning every team had to spend at least the latter amount. The Steelers will use these figures to make a rough calculation of what the cap would be if this were a capped year and spend only within that amount. Colbert said that with no recent precedent, the calculations would be a bit of a guessing game but they intend to do their best. Even with the self-imposed restrictions, Colbert states that they will still make some changes. When entering the season with the same group that ended the previous season, it is safe to expect the same results, he added. At present, the team has many of their star-players under long-term contracts. This includes James Harrison, Troy Polamalu, and Ben Roethlisberger. On the other hand, some players like Charlie Batch, Willie Colon, and Jeff Reed are going to be free agents next month.