Although not an unrestricted free agent, Pittsburgh Steelers tight end Vance McDonald managed to create a minor headline of his own to start off the week. According to a Monday afternoon report from Adam Caplan of SiriusXM NFL Radio, the Steelers have restructured McDonald's current contract to clear some available salary-cap space.
As a result of being a team player, although he won't be losing out on any money, McDonald will now see $5.5 million of his base salary converted into a signing bonus.
Source: #Steelers are restructuring deals in order to create salary cap space.
Latest is TE Vance McDonald. He agreed to convert his $5.5m base salary to signing bonus.
— Adam Caplan (@caplannfl) March 16, 2020
After using the team's 2020 franchise tag on veteran outside linebacker Bud Dupree earlier in the day on Monday, the Steelers were then forced to create some available salary space with McDonald's contract at the forefront. However, the Steelers also released linebackers Mark Barron and Anthony Chickillo in addition to wide receiver Johnny Holton. Veteran guard Ramon Foster has also elected to retire, which aided the Steelers' attempt to create some more room.
The Steelers are looking to rebound after a bit of a lost season in 2019-20. With troubled wide receiver Antonio Brown and New York Jets running back Le'Veon Bell out of the picture, the Steelers were looking to start fresh. However, things didn't work out to well as both up-and-coming wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster and veteran quarterback Ben Roethlisberger found themselves injured.
Now preparing to make yet another run through the AFC next season, the Steelers are focusing on creating enough available salary-cap space to formulate a formidable roster heading into the 2020-21 campaign.
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