The Steelers struck deals with a pair of linebackers just before the start of free agency.
Ed Bouchette of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports that the team reached a long-expected agreement to restructure the contract of LaMarr Woodley. Woodley turned $5.5 million of his $9 million salary for the 2013 season into a bonus, lowering his cap hit by $4 million before the gates swing open on free agency Tuesday afternoon. As with many of the other restructurings in Pittsburgh this offseason, the Steelers pushed more money under future caps with their adjustment of the Woodley deal.
Some of the money saved was put immediately to use when the team announced a three-year deal for Larry Foote. The inside linebacker was set to become an unrestricted free agent, but the deal should keep the soon-to-be 33-year-old with the Steelers for the remainder of his professional career. Keeping Foote also allows the team to keep some of the institutional memory in place after the departures of James Harrison and several other veterans in recent years. Foote had a career-high 113 tackles in 2012 and tied a career-high with four sacks.
We’ll see if bringing Foote back affects the scheduled meeting the Steelers had with Dan Connor, who was recently released by the Cowboys.
