Last season, Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker Ryan Shazier earned $8.718 million on his fifth-year option. Pittsburgh could have rescinded it because of injury but chose to pay Shazier while he continues to rehab from the devastating neck injury he suffered in 2017.
This was going to create an awkward free agency situation for Pittsburgh with Shazier still in recovery and an unrestricted free agent. But according to Post-Gazette beat writer Ed Bouchette, Pittsburgh gets one more year to make the choice on how to proceed, depending on Shazier’s health.
During his weekly chat, Bouchette was asked about how the Steelers would keep Shazier, and he shared the good news.
Since he was on PUP all last season, his contract will “toll” but at a significantly lower number, under $1M. So they won’t even have to sign him to a new deal. I was told that last week at the Super Bowl.
This is great news for Shazier and the Steelers. It isn’t clear whether Shazier will ever play again, but it is hard to imagine the team without him on it in some capacity. Shazier spent the last offseason working with the scouting department and could do so again this time around.
