Cam Heyward won’t guarantee retirement with the Steelers; ‘If it comes to it, I’ll play in another city’

No one means more to the culture of the Pittsburgh Steelers than team captain Cam Heyward.

Throw out the dominance on the field that has allocated him All-Pro and Pro Bowl accolades, he's the reigning Walter Payton Man of the Year because of all he does in the community.

But professional football can be a cut-throat business, and with Heyward yet to receive the contract extension he's seeking , he's open to new pastures.

Heyward on the way out?

"I don't wanna say how likely something is 'cause you just never know," Heyward told Jim Rome of The Jim Rome Show when asked about his contract situation. "Obviously, I would love to be a Pittsburgh Steeler for the rest of my career. Getting a contract would lay claim to that. My goal is to be a Pittsburgh Steeler this year and have a good year to hopefully come back and play more games with them...

"...Obviously, I'd like to be in Pittsburgh, but if it comes to it, I will play in another city."

Now, Heyward would rule out the Cleveland Browns as one of the teams he would consider playing for, having fun with the light-hearted joke he made last month about playing in the Dawg Pound.

But while Heyward has pledged his allegiance to the black and gold throughout the offseason, money talks and you know what walks, with Heyward already attempting a leverage play to receive an extension.

From Pittsburgh's perspective, they are in wait-and-see mode. Giving a 35-year-old interior defensive lineman a contract extension after coming off multiple surgeries in one calendar year and the least amount of games played in the past eight seasons is bad process.

But for Heyward, he can point to last year's injury-riddled campaign as an outlier given the durability of his career, not to mention his belief that his strength and power will carry into his 40s , making him as valuable as ever.

And the trickiest part here is the relationship. Heyward loves the Steelers and the Steelers love Heyward. Neither side wants to see the other side go, but they both have a price in their minds, and those have yet to align. Pittsburgh's self-imposed deadline of only discussing contracts in the offseason only adds pressure to the negotiations as we creep toward September.

Will someone cave, or is 2024 Heyward's final season in Pittsburgh?

Time will tell.