The Pittsburgh Steelers and Cleveland Browns’ AFC North rivalry may have just gotten more interesting, at least for the 2024 NFL season.
Steelers’ longtime defensive tackle Cam Heyward is in the final year of his deal and has been vocal about wanting a new contract from the team. There is a legit chance that Heyward’s 14th season in Pittsburgh could be his last one.
The former All-Pro even has been open about where everything stands and the Browns eventually may not have to worry about a player that has been a headache for them twice a year.
“I have talked to my wife (Allie), and we know the reality, and we have had those talks, and she said it could be fun to play somewhere else,” Heyward told Mark Kaboly of The Athletic.
Heyward’s response to playing his last year out with a new contract is pretty straightforward.
“If that is what is needed to be done, then so be it.”
It gets even more interesting when Heyward openly name-dropped Cleveland, a team that the Steelers surely didn’t like to hear about him potentially landing with.
“I still have family in Cleveland, my wife is from Cleveland. We will see. I am not trying to think about all that right now.”
Heyward is a six-time Pro Bowler who wants to be paid once more in the league at least. Whether that is with the Steelers or another team, it’ll likely happen. At 35 years old, Heyward is still a very good player in the NFL despite playing 11 games in 2023.
To learn a bit more about his situation in the Steel City, I spoke to A to Z Sports’ Rob Gregson, who has a firm grasp on the Pittsburgh Steelers beat.
“Heyward attempted to use his absence from the first two weeks of OTAs as a leverage ploy, but with young players like Keeanu Benton stepping into a leadership role, it almost did more harm than good and so Heyward ended his hiatus and returned to OTAs and mandatory minicamp. The situation is tricky because Pittsburgh could have asked Heyward to take a pay cut on his massive $22.4m cap hit. Instead, my understanding of the situation is that Pittsburgh (as they are doing with many of their players in contract years) wants to wait until after the season and decide whether to extend Heyward or let it be a clean break via free agency. Heyward has been vocal about not only playing another 2-3 seasons, but also being compensated in a way that represents him as one of the best at his position, and Pittsburgh wants to see if that is still the case in 2024 before hammering out another extension.”
Heyward has a connection to Ohio from the days he spent at Ohio State where he eventually ended up becoming a first-round pick in the 2011 NFL Draft.
The Browns just drafted Mike Hall Jr. to be a future piece on the interior to get after the passer. Dalvin Tomlinson will remain on the roster next year surely, but there are question marks after that. If Cleveland believes that Heyward is a high-end contributor still, they very well could pursue him in 2025.
