Steelers' Dispute With Cameron Heyward Is Preventing Another Elite Player From Getting Paid

The Pittsburgh Steelers are in the midst of another nasty contract situation. Defensive captain Cameron Heyward fired some shots at the front office for how they did things in the past while demanding a restructured deal. So far, Pittsburgh seems to have not budged on his demands. They appear to be ok with letting things play out and seeing if he caves in and plays without getting what he wants. All the focus is currently on him, even though he is not the only high-end player that is refusing to participate in practice. 

Kicker Chris Boswell has also been holding in and playing golf, as opposed to kicking footballs in Latrobe. After an amazing 2024 season, he believes that he deserves to be the highest-paid special teamer due to being the best in the previous season. There appears to be little movement on that front as well, and the Steelers seem to be willing to push this as far as it could possibly go.

While making an appearance on 93.7 The Fan, NFL insider Mike Florio explained the simple reason why Boswell is not getting paid.

"I don’t see them blinking for Boswell and not blinking for Heyward," Florio said. "That one is just weird to me."

Kickers are seen as one of the most replaceable positions in the league. What is not replaceable, however, is an All-Pro team captain in the trenches. Heyward is priority number one, even if there has not been much movement in that front. Pittsburgh will have a very hard time stopping the run game if the 15th-year veteran is not there at all. That would also be a major blow to the locker room morale to have him off the team during the regular season. 

Boswell may be one of the greatest kickers in NFL history, but he doesn't have the impact on and off the field that Heyward does. On top of that, Ben Sauls has performed well in training camp and in the team's first preseason game. If Boswell is not on the field in Week 1, the Steelers would still go into that game with confidence in the man that makes the trip to East Rutherford, New Jersey. The same can't be said for whoever would replace the defensive captain.

As mentioned before, the Steelers have not budged much for Heyward, if at all. They don't want to give him a raise and/or guaranteed money at the moment, whichever he prefers. If that's their mindset with one of the best players of his generation, why would they not have that same mindset for a kicker?

Steelers May Need Boswell More Than They Realize

The problem for the Steelers has been their subpar, inconsistent offense for years now. After replacing one aging veteran quarterback with another one, odds are that there won't be too much of an increase in production on that side of the ball. That would mean the team would be over-reliant on the leg and accuracy of their kicker. Sauls might be having a solid camp, but he is no Boswell. 

Boswell had two separate games where he accounted for all 18 points in a game, and he did so with a different quarterback under center in each contest. He was a perfect 35/35 on extra points and went 41/44 on field goals, including going 13/15 from 50+ yards out. With Heyward still fighting for a restructure, who knows if/when Boswell gets the extension that he is looking for? This will likely get much uglier before it gets good again.