Steelers All-Pro hints at leaving team for division rival

Sep 19, 2021; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; View of the Pittsburgh Steelers logo at mid-field before the Steelers play the Las Vegas Raiders at Heinz Field. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports

All-Pro defensive tackle Cam Heyward this week sounded like a man who can sense that his days with the Pittsburgh Steelers are numbered.

Heyward and the Steelers have yet to come to terms on a contract extension. Heyward is under contract for $22.4 million this season — the final year of the 4-year, $65.6 million deal he signed in 2020.

The 6-time Pro Bowler skipped the first two weeks of OTAs in protest of the lack of progress on a new deal.

Heyward, who returned for the final week of OTAs amid the contract talks, spoke to reporters on Thursday following a team workout. The 35-year-old said he’s opened up to his wife Allie about the possibility of playing for another team. That other team could be the Cleveland Browns, which play in the same division as the Steelers.

“I have talked to my wife, and we know the reality, and we have had those talks, and she said it could be fun to play somewhere else. If that is what is needed to be done, then so be it,” Heyward said, via Mark Kobaly of The Athletic.

“I still have family in Cleveland … my wife is from Cleveland,” Heyward said. “We will see. I am not trying to think about all that right now.”

Heyward has spent his entire 13-year career with the Steelers. Pittsburgh selected Heyward in the first round of the 2011 NFL Draft. Heyward made the Pro Bowl every season from 2017 to 2022. He also earned three 1st-team All-Pro nods during that span.