86WARD
06-01-2015, 07:15 PM
While most people who follow the Pittsburgh Steelers closely expect defensive end Cameron Heyward and tackle Kelvin Beachum to both receive a contract extensions later this summer, there’s one beat writer who isn’t so sure that the latter is a slam-dunk to get a new deal prior to the start of the 2015 season.
In his most recent online chat (http://www.post-gazette.com/sports/steelers/2015/05/28/Gerry-Dulac-s-Steeler-chat-transcript-5-28-15/stories/201505280219), Gerry Dulac of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette was asked if he thought Beachum would be allowed to test free agency next offseason and his reply was straight and to the point.
“Absolutely,” Dulac wrote. “And he would be stupid if he didn’t.”
Beachum, who was drafted by the Steelers in the seventh-round of the 2012 NFL Draft out of SMU, is currently entrenched as the Steelers starting left tackle after taking over the job from Mike Adams early in the 2013 season. While he lacks the ideal measurables normally associated with starting left tackles in the NFL, Beachum has showed that he can play the position at a high level. In fact, Beachum was ranked as the fifth-best tackle in the league last season by Pro Football Focus and even one spot ahead of the Dallas Cowboys All-Pro left tackle, Tyron Smith.
If the Steelers are going to extend Beachum this offseason, one would think that he would expect to receive a contract bigger than the five-year, $30 million extension that right tackle Marcus Gilbert signed prior to last season. Gilbert received a $7.65 million signing bonus as part of that deal that also included a $3.5 million roster bonus that was paid to him five days into this current league year.
http://www.steelersdepot.com/2015/06/dulac-doesnt-see-steelers-extending-beachums-contract-this-offseason/
In his most recent online chat (http://www.post-gazette.com/sports/steelers/2015/05/28/Gerry-Dulac-s-Steeler-chat-transcript-5-28-15/stories/201505280219), Gerry Dulac of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette was asked if he thought Beachum would be allowed to test free agency next offseason and his reply was straight and to the point.
“Absolutely,” Dulac wrote. “And he would be stupid if he didn’t.”
Beachum, who was drafted by the Steelers in the seventh-round of the 2012 NFL Draft out of SMU, is currently entrenched as the Steelers starting left tackle after taking over the job from Mike Adams early in the 2013 season. While he lacks the ideal measurables normally associated with starting left tackles in the NFL, Beachum has showed that he can play the position at a high level. In fact, Beachum was ranked as the fifth-best tackle in the league last season by Pro Football Focus and even one spot ahead of the Dallas Cowboys All-Pro left tackle, Tyron Smith.
If the Steelers are going to extend Beachum this offseason, one would think that he would expect to receive a contract bigger than the five-year, $30 million extension that right tackle Marcus Gilbert signed prior to last season. Gilbert received a $7.65 million signing bonus as part of that deal that also included a $3.5 million roster bonus that was paid to him five days into this current league year.
http://www.steelersdepot.com/2015/06/dulac-doesnt-see-steelers-extending-beachums-contract-this-offseason/