The Pittsburgh Steelers and defensive lineman Cameron Heyward have yet to agree on a new contract, something Heyward has been seeking all offseason long.
In the midst of his contract dispute with the Steelers, Heyward sat out portions of training camp and didn't rule out sitting out the start of the regular season until he gets what he wants.
"There are definitely options out there that could reflect that," Heyward said of the possibility of not playing in Week 1.
Heyward was practicing with the team on Monday, which suggests he's going to play, but ESPN's Adam Schefter told Pat McAfee he believes there's still a possibility Heyward doesn't suit up.
“They’ve not been able to figure it out. And so I would think it’s gonna be really interesting to see if Cam Heyward is on the practice field on Wednesday as the Steelers get ready to open their season on Sunday against the Jets,” he said.
“It’s about to get interesting there,” Schefter added. “And, again, maybe Cameron Heyward says, ‘I’m gonna play on this deal.’ It didn’t sound that way early in the summer, but we’ll find out.”
Heyward, who was once again named a team captain on Monday, was asked by wide receiver Ben Skowronek if he's going to play in Week 1 during a recent episode of Heyward's podcast.
Heyward didn't give an exact answer and instead said his teammates "already know by this point" what he's going to do.
If Heyward was still sitting out at practice at this point, we would be more inclined to believe he could sit Week 1. But it remains hard to believe that Heyward won't be out there for his team on Sunday.
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