It is pretty rare to see players publicly apply pressure to a team when it is in a contract dispute with a player, but that's exactly what Jalen Ramsey and Darius Slay did amid Cameron Heyward's saga with the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Both Ramsey and Slay were guests on Heyward's "Not Just Football" podcast and they urged general manager Omar Khan to get something done with the seven-time Pro Bowler, who is holding in as he seeks a raise after a bounce-back 2024 season.
"Mr. Omar [Khan], yeah, man. Got a lot of respect for you, Mr. Omar... You taking care of me, T.J. [Watt, Slay. Cam is next," Ramsey said. "We're excited, man. We got potential to do something great if we got all our guys out there happy and feeling like they're valued. I know a little something about feeling valued and getting what you deserve. So, yeah, I'm with you. I'm with you."
"You took a big toll on me coming here, so hey, we need you out there," Slay said. "Tell them stop playing, right now."
The Steelers signed Heyward to an extension last year that included $29 million in new money, a deal Heyward is now in the first year of.
At the time, Heyward was coming off a down 2023 campaign and many wondered if he was on the decline. Heyward flipped the script in 2024, though, as he returned to his elite form and put together a Pro Bowl campaign.
Now, the extension Heyward signed doesn't fit what he produced.
According to Over the Cap, Heyward's annual average of $14.5 million is tied for 22nd among interior defenders, and we know full well he is not the 22nd-best interior lineman in the league.
"I'm looking to be valued," Heyward said of his contract demands. "... I know what I bring to this team and what I'm capable of on and off the field, so it's hard for me, after the year I've had, to really justify playing at the number I'm playing at.
"I understand. I signed a contract last year, but to be completely honest with you, when I signed that, I told him when I have an All-Pro year expecting me to come back and you can look at the contract and see what it was. But I think everybody kind of giggled a little bit, but in my head, I used it as motivation to go out there and prove it," Heyward added.
Heyward has not ruled out sitting out the start of the season if he doesn't get what he wants, although we find it hard to believe he'll take it that far.
We may get an opportunity to find out if he'll go with an in-season holdout, as the Steelers don't appear keen on paying Heyward otherwise something would have been done by now.
During an offseason in which the Steelers have taken care of several players, both old and new, Pittsburgh should do what it can to end this standoff with Heyward, who is vital to the team's success in 2025.
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