NFL Rumors: Pittsburgh Steelers Planning To Release Mike Mitchell
Mike Mitchell's time as a member of the Pittsburgh Steelers is about to come to an end.
The veteran free safety has one more year remaining on the five-year, $25-million contract he signed back in the spring of 2014, but according to NFL Network's Ian Rapoport, the Steelers are expected to release him this week to free up salary cap space.
Mitchell is set to earn five million dollars in base salary next season.
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The Steelers do not really have a lot of available cap space to make moves in free agency, so they have to consider cutting ties with some of their underperforming veterans. But, as noted by Rapoport, the Steelers are open to bringing back Mitchell if he is willing to take a pay cut.
"Releasing Mitchell – it's possible the Steelers could try to bring him back at a lesser salary – would provide the Steelers some much-needed cap space entering free agency on Wednesday. The Steelers are about $1 million under the cap after restructuring wide receiver Antonio Brown's contract," Joe Rutter said in his column for the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review.
"The absence of Mitchell would allow the Steelers to move third-year safety Sean Davis from strong safety to free safety. The Steelers could address strong safety in the draft or free agency, plus they have J.J. Wilcox ($3.125 million base salary) on the roster," he added.
In any case, Mitchell understands that he may have to play elsewhere next season as he wrote "it is what it is" on his official Twitter account before Rapoport even made his report.
Mitchell has always been a passionate player, but that passion does not always translate into production, so the Steelers are better off signing someone else if he is not willing to take less money.
In 13 starts with the Steelers last season, the veteran safety had 53 combined tackles (35 solo) and two passes defended.
