Steelers sign longtime defensive tackle Cam Heyward to new 3-year deal that runs through 2026

PITTSBURGH (AP) — Cam Heyward isn’t going anywhere.

The longtime Pittsburgh Steelers defensive tackle signed a three-year contract on Tuesday that runs through the 2026 season. Financial details were not disclosed.

The 35-year-old Heyward — a first-round pick by the Steelers in 2011 — was about to enter the final season of his current deal. He had stressed repeatedly during the offseason and training camp that he wanted to play beyond 2024 and do it in Pittsburgh, though he opened the door to going elsewhere if he and the only team he’s ever played for couldn’t come to terms.

Turns out, that won’t be necessary.

“How unlikely! Yet here we are,” Heyward posted on X while posing for a picture with Steelers general manager Omar Khan.

Heyward was selected as a defensive captain for the 10th time in his 14-year career on Monday, becoming only the third player in franchise history to reach that milestone.

The six-time Pro Bowler, three-time All-Pro and 2023 Walter Payton Man of the Year winner is coming off an injury-filled season in which he had just two sacks in 11 games. He talked openly Monday about returning to the standard he’d set earlier this decade, when he was one of the best pass-rushing interior linemen in the league.

“I’ve had to eat (criticism) and absorb it,” Heyward said. “Everybody’s entitled to their opinion, but I want to make their opinion wrong, and I think I just look forward to playing good football.”

Heyward enters 2024 with 80 1/2 sacks, the most ever by a Steelers defensive tackle and the ninth most in NFL history by an interior defensive linemen.