Steelers restructure TE McDonald's deal

The Pittsburgh Steelers restructured tight end Vance McDonald's contract on Tuesday to create extra cap space, according to an ESPN report.

Per the report, around $3 million of McDonald's $3.7 million base salaries for 2018 was converted into a signing bonus. The proration of the bonus over the remainder of the contract will save the Steelers more than $2 million in cap space this year.

That will give Pittsburgh nearly $4 million in space after it had just over $1.8 million to spare before the deal, which ranked ahead of only the Carolina Panthers ($1.2 million), per Spotrac.

The move is a vote of confidence in McDonald, whose deal previously had no guaranteed money after this season. The Steelers could have released him at any time and saved more than $4 million in cap space this year, or do so after this season and owe no dead money.

McDonald, 28, was traded from the San Francisco 49ers last August with a 2018 fifth-round pick for a 2018 fourth-round pick. He had previously signed a three-year $19.7 million extension with San Francisco with $5.5 million team options in 2020 and 2021.

In his first year in Pittsburgh, McDonald played in 10 games while battling back, knee and ankle injuries, finishing the regular season with 14 catches for 188 yards and a touchdown. However, he added 10 catches for 112 yards in the divisional playoff game against the Jacksonville Jaguars, and the Steelers have listed McDonald ahead of incumbent starter Jesse James on their official depth chart.

A second-round pick out of Rice in 2013, McDonald has 78 catches for 1,054 yards and eight touchdowns in six career seasons.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)