What are we doing here? The Pittsburgh Steelers are preparing to face the New York Jets in their first game of the regular season. If the Steelers are to make the postseason, they likely need to get off to a hot start in the first half. Much like last year, the Steelers schedule is front-loaded with easier opponents, while they'll have to prove themselves at the tail end of the year. That didn't work out well in 2024-25. Such a feat — ideally making the postseason and winning a playoff game for the first time in nearly a decade under Mike Tomlin — would become even tougher if Cameron Heyward doesn't play.
Heyward received a new contract last offseason — a two-year deal — and then had an All-Pro campaign. He was arguably the Steelers best defensive player last season, though TJ Watt has a good argument as well. Because of this simple fact, Heyward wanted a new deal this offseason, or at least a raise based on his production. Thus far, the Steelers have been unwilling to match Heyward's enthusiasm for more money. Training camp and preseason have come and gone. Suddenly, we're in Le'Veon Bell territory.
Steelers fans are fed up with Cameron Heyward's contract drama
To some extent I sympathize with Heyward. He is 36 years old and knows this is his final chance to earn more money than he previously agreed to. However, the latter part of the statement still matters. He agreed to a contract just last offseason. The Steelers front office has unwritten rules, and I assume this is one of them. Why would they go back to the negotiating table with Heyward when they just went through it?
Steelers fans love Heyward when he's on the field and happy. He is one of the last remaining holdovers from the competitive teams of the mid-2010's. He played with Ben Roethlisberger, Troy Polamalu and James Harrison, among other Steelers legends. Yet, despite that legacy, he risks sacrificing it all over a few millions dollars. This is one of the few times I agree with Mark Madden on anything, frankly, but perhaps Heyward ought to take these comments seriously. Is it really worth the drama?
“Heyward went from Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year to a selfish jerk, and it happened overnight. He thinks a cliffhanger on his podcast trumps serving as Steelers captain. Heyward seems to have changed since joining the media’s periphery. A Steelers captain who is under contract left doubt regarding his participation less than a week before the first game. Now that’s leadership," Madden wrote via the Pittsburgh Tribune.
I would never go as far as Madden when it comes to calling out disgruntled Steelers stars. He does have a point, though, in that Heyward is placing himself in the same category of past Pittsburgh players who didn't play when the games mattered most. Bell, in particular, comes to mind — and we all know how that went.
Is Cameron Heyward playing Week 1 against the Jets?
Heyward's status for Week 1 remains a bit of a mystery. Mike Tomlin and Teryl Austin have both said they expect the veteran defensive lineman out there. He did practice on Wednesday, but was conveniently absent for portions of Thursday's practice and didn't speak to the media. While I certainly understand why he wouldn't want to stir up contract drama in conversations with folks like me just days prior to Week 1, he should let Steelers fans know he's playing, or he risks far more than money long term.
More importantly, the Steelers cannot afford to lose their Week 1 game against the Jets. Sure, it's a revenge game for Aaron Rodgers and Justin Fields, but more importantly it is a contest the Steelers ought to win. The Jets were bad enough in 2024-25 to fire head coach Robert Saleh midseason. And as much as Aaron Glenn hypes up Fields, there's a reason Tomlin benched him after six games and preferred Russell Freaking Wilson. He is not the long-term answer.
If Heyward misses Week 1 over a contract dispute, Steelers fans will not forget. Bell, Antonio Brown and even James Harrison are great examples of past Steelers who burned bridges in their final seasons. Heyward certainly doesn't want to join that list, as he's a Pittsburgh sports lifer who deserves his eventual placement in the team's ring of honor.
Legacy is more valuable than money, and the longer Heyward makes Steelers fans wait, the worse this will get.
Can the Steelers make the playoffs if they lose to the Jets?
The Steelers could still make the playoffs if they lose to the Jets. It's unfair of me to assume otherwise, as an analyst, after only one game. That being said, Tomlin and the Steelers need to take the easy wins where they can get them. The AFC North is a notoriously tough division featuring the Ravens and Bengals, two teams also favored to make the playoffs. The Browns could serve as an easy sweep, but the Steelers lost in Cleveland just last season on Thursday night.
If I've learned anything from watching way too much Steelers football over the last few years, it's that no game is predictable. They play up and down to their competition. Sometimes that works in their favor. In other instances, it leads me to question whether or not they can defeat the Jets.
A loss in the Meadowlands would suggest, to me, that this team isn't all it's made out to be. Any postgame show — which I'll be on thanks to Still Curtain – would start with questions about Rodgers, Tomlin and Heyward (most importantly). That's not a good sign of what's to come. The Steelers have the 24th-toughest schedule in the NFL this season, but it does have tough stretches.
That all starts Week 4, when they play the Vikings, Packers and Bengals three out of four games. A win over the Jets — with Heyward in tow — would go a long way in this team rebuilding trust in a broken fanbase.