After an uncapped year, the salary cap returns under the new collective bargaining agreement, and all teams will need to be under the cap next month. The Steelers have a lot of work to do, and it appears likely that one of the victims will be veteran receiver Hines Ward.
Jason LaCanfora has indicated that Ward won’t be back next season, a victim of the cap. The Steelers have already restructured contracts for CB Ike Taylor, LB Lawrence Timmons, LB Lamarr Woodley, and apparently aren’t done yet.
Ward has indicated that he’d be willing to be restructured and take a pay cut to stay as a Steeler, but that decision may be out of his hand. The emergency of young guns Mike Wallace and Antonio Brown has made Ward expendable, as he dropped to the #3 or #4 option this season.
Ward has over 12,000 yards in his career, and had 10 consecutive seasons of over 700 yards prior to this year. His 12,083 yards is second most among active players, trailing only Tony Gonzalez who has 13,338.
