According to Ian Rapoport, the Steelers restructured OLB Alex Highsmith‘s contract and created $7 million in cap space.
Pittsburgh was getting low on cap space and this gives them a little more breathing room.
Highsmith, 26, was a two-year starter at UNC-Charlotte and earned third-team All-American honors in 2019. The Steelers selected him in the third round with the No. 102 pick in the 2020 NFL Draft.
He was in the final year of a four-year, $4,499,404 contract that includes an $832,295 signing bonus and was due a base salary of $2.7 million in 2023 when he signed a four-year, $68 million extension.
Highsmith is due base salaries of $10.73 million and $13 million over the next two seasons.
In 2023, Highsmith appeared in all 17 games for the Steelers and recorded 57 total tackles, eight tackles for loss, seven sacks, two forced fumbles, two interceptions, including one returned for a touchdown, and three pass deflections. Pro Football Focus had him rated as the No. 10 edge defender out of 112 qualifying players.
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