We added up the salary cap ramifications of the Pittsburgh Steelers’ recent trades.
The Pittsburgh Steelers pulled off three surprising moves on Monday, adding two players from the Miami Dolphins while sending one back in return. We first learned they acquired cornerback Jalen Ramsey, then we found out Minkah Fitzpatrick was the trade compensation, then Pittsburgh traded for tight end Jonnu Smith with a late-round pick swap.
Unfurling the financial ramifications is going to take a bit and won’t be fully clear for a few days probably, but let’s go step by step with what we know and then add in some informed speculation.
Salary cap impact of Steelers trading for Jalen Ramsey’s contract
Jalen Ramsey’s compensation for the 2025 season was mostly tied up in an option bonus due Week 1. That gives the Steelers a chance to spread out the cap hit over the course of up to five years.
Ramsey gets $1.5 million more cash to make the trade happen, and combining about $19 million in option bonus money plus his minimum base salary of $1.255 million, you get a total cash outlay of $21.755 million plus $45,000 in per-game roster bonuses. It turns out Miami paid Ramsey $3 million in order to facilitate the trade with the Steelers, so the Steelers are only on the hook for $18.755 million.
The Dolphins already paid Ramsey $4 million in a roster bonus in March and in addition to that, so when you see someone say Ramsey is going to make $26.6 million in 2025, that money is included.
We don’t know yet if the extra $1.5 million is salary or option bonus, so the cap hit is still a bit fluid. If we assume the raise is in base salary, his option bonus cap hit is $3.8 million plus $2.755 million in base salary plus $765,000 in Likely To Be Earned bonuses, leaving his cap hit under $7.5 million for 2025.
Option bonus: $18.9 million
Base salary $1.255 million
New money somewhere: $1.5 million
What Miami paid to make it happen: -$3 million
Total cash from Pittsburgh: $19 million plus incentives
Cap hit: Between $7 and $8 million
Steelers salary cap ramifications of adding Jonnu Smith
The Jonnu Smith addition is much more nebulous in terms of structure. It was reported that Smith was signing a $12 million one-year contract extension, but it is likely to include some sort of raise for 2025. Here is what we know.
Smith was set to make $4.09 million in 2025, but $100,000 of that was workout bonus with the Dolphins. His $3.49 million base salary and $29,411 per-game roster bonus will be earned during the season, so if he plays 17 games, he was set to earn $3.99 million with the Steelers which is also his current cap hit for Pittsburgh.
If I was Smith, I’d want part of the $12 million up front as part of my 2025 compensation, and looking at the complete details of two years and $16 million, I’m guessing the additional money in 2025 will be around $4 million to level off the two seasons at $8 million apiece.
His cap hit could be anywhere from $1.7 million or so up to $8 million. We need to know the structure of the extension before we cement that in.
Steelers salary cap ramifications of trading Minkah Fitzpatrick
The Steelers had pushed some of Minkah Fitzpatrick’s cap hits into the future, but trading him after June 1 will allow them to spread the dead cap over two seasons in 2025 and 2026. His total dead cap number is $13.71 million. Half will count in 2025 and half in 2026 at $6.855 million per season.
The Steelers are no longer on the hook for any of Fitzpatrick’s actual cash in either season. The Dolphins will pay his $15.5 million salary in 2025 and his $17.6 million salary in 2026, assuming they don’t release him or alter his contract in the meantime.
What are the salary cap ramifications of the mega trade for the Steelers?
In terms of net outgoing and incoming, Ramsey’s $7.5 million cap hit plus the Fitzpatrick dead cap hit of $6.855 million totals $14.355 million. That is less than what Fitzpatrick was going to count by himself thanks to his $15.5 million base salary. So Pittsburgh gets some cap relief.
Fitzpatrick’s old 2025 cap hit: $22.355 million
Ramsey+Fitzpatrick new cap hit: $14.355 million
2025 cap savings of the DB swap: $8 million
Some part of that $8 million is going to be used for the addition of Smith, but the Steelers already had more than $20 million in cap space so they were set before and will be set after.
In terms of actual cash, the Steelers are going to be spending a lot more on Ramsey+Smith in 2025 and then again in 2026. Ramsey’s $22.6 million is much higher than Fitzpatrick’s $15.5 million in compensation on its own.