The Pittsburgh Steelers operate under different parameters than many teams when it comes to the manner in which they structure their contracts. They also verge from the norm with respect to what they are willing to guarantee.
Organizations like the New England Patriots are willing to give second and third-year guarantees to mid-level tight ends to get them to sign. The Steelers have never given second-year guarantees to any outside free-agent signing. In fact, they’ve only recently broken that mold with T.J. Watt’s extension.
Which means that the contracts they give players are effectively a series of one-year deals, depending on how much of a dead cap number the Steelers are willing to eat.