The Pittsburgh Steelers capped off a busy offseason with another big move ahead of the 2020 regular season.
According to ESPN's Jeremy Fowler and Adam Schefter, the Steelers signed star defensive tackle Cameron Heyward to a lucrative four-year contract extension worth $71.4 million.
The new deal now keeps Heyward under contract through his age-35 2024 season. Heyward had one season left on the six-year, $59.25 million extension he signed during the 2015 offseason.
The Steelers drafted Heyward with the 31st overall pick in 2011, months after losing to the Green Bay Packers in Super Bowl XLV. The three-time Pro Bowler has been one of the league's most consistent and productive pass rushers over the past decade, recording seven or more sacks in five differet seasons.
Heyward is an anchor on a Steelers defense that has been one of the NFL's best over the last four years. Last season, they led the NFL with 54 defensive sacks. Heyward had nine of those.
Along with 2019 breakout star Bud Dupree (11.5 sacks, four forced fumbles) rising superstar T.J. Watt (14.5 sacks, eight forced fumbles), Heyward has led one of the NFL's most dominant pass rushing units in recent memory.
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For his career, the 31-year-old Heyward has 54 sacks, 30 passes defended, six forced fumbles, five fumble recoveries and 397 combined tackles. His best season to date came in 2017, when Heyward recorded 12 sacks and two forced fumbles.
The Steelers have missed the playoffs in each of the last two seasons. The hope is that with Ben Roethlisberger now healthy (he suffered a season-ending elbow injury in Week 2 last year), the offense will bounce back and guide this team into the postseason. As we saw last in 2019, this defense is good enough to keep Pittsburgh in the playoff hunt.
Heyward and the Steelers open up their season on the road against the New York Giants on Monday Night Football next week.