Steelers salary cap breakdown by positional unit on offense

Curt Popejoy, Steelers WireMon, June 29, 2026 at 7:04 PM UTC

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New Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike McCarthy has wasted no time in his first offseason in filling in the gaps on the offensive side of the football. But this doesn't mean he's ignored the defense. Even with all the money paid out to the offense, the Steelers will still go into the 2025 regular season with the most expensive defense in the NFL. This is due in large part to massive contracts handed out to several aging veterans in hopes they can make a big push in 2026.

Let's break down the Steelers have spent their $139.963 million in cap on defense by positional unit.

Defensive line - $29.774 million

The Steelers defensive line is a bargain with Drerrick Harmon and Keeanu Benton playing on rookie deals and the ageless wonder Cameron Heyward only costing $13.675 million in 2026.

EDGE - $66.984 million

No team spends more on its edge defenders than the Steelers, and that number is only going up after Nick Herbig's massive new contract.

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Linebacker - $36.043 million

Thanks to the bloated contracts of Patrick Queen and Malik Harrison, the Steelers have the second-most money in the NFL wrapped up at the linebacker position. Meanwhile, the team's best linebacker, Payton Wilson, is the team's most productive linebacker.

Cornerback - $46.034 million

The Steelers spend the third-most in the NFL on cornerback and that number is just going to go up once the Steelers sign cornerback Joey Porter Jr. to a new contract. But for now, the contracts of guys like Jamel Dean and Jalen Ramsey really run up the total.

Safety - $16.543 million

The inclusion of Jalen Ramsey among the cornerbacks keeps costs down here and the tandem of Jaquan Brisker and DeShon Elliott are a relative bargain for two excellent veteran starters.

This article originally appeared on Steelers Wire: Steelers salary cap breakdown by positional unit on offense

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Source: “AOL Sports”