Every so often we are reminded the NFL really is a business first and foremost. Pittsburgh Steelers kicker Chris Boswell got a taste of this during OTAs when the team gave him the hard line on how he was to get paid this season.
Steelers reporter Gerry Dulac indicated the team is going to hold onto Boswell’s signing bonus until the end of the preseason. And if Boswell wasn’t ok with these terms they were just going to cut him.
There are a couple of ways to look at this. From a team perspective, holding onto the money is smart. Boswell was one of the best kickers in the league in 2017, got a big new deal and proceeded to fall apart in 2018. Boswell’s poor play was a significant factor in missing the playoffs.
But on the other side, this is just one more layer of pressure on a guy who needs to get his head on straight. The Steelers don’t have another kicker in camp to legitimately challenge Boswell so it’s just him and himself if he wants to keep his job and get paid.
