Should the Pittsburgh Steelers ultimately end up parting ways with Antonio Brown this offseason, the front office will need every bit of salary cap space they can get their hands on if they hope to replace him during free agency. And while the Steelers are not facing anywhere near the sort of cap crisis they have experienced in past seasons, they are still among the bottom third of the league when it comes to available salary cap space in 2019.
When the front office finally sits down to work out how much money they have to play with, it would appear that league rules will be taking a little bit more out of the accounts for next season after Javon Hargrave became eligible for an increase in pay due to the NFL’s Proven Performance Escalator (PPE) clause.