Just days before the Pittsburgh Steelers started their offseason spending frenzy, the team was sitting on around $40 million in salary cap space for the 2027 offseason. So despite some huge contracts on the books, the team was looking fairly solid heading into the 2026 season.

Then the Nick Herbig and Darnell Washington contracts came and everything changed. According to Over the Cap, the Steelers now only have around $5.5 million in cap space, without taking into consideration any of the pending free agents. The list of 2027 free agents includes offensive lineman Spencer Anderson, linebacker Patrick Queen, cornerback Joey Porter Jr. and safety Jaquan Brisker.

Many beat writers and pundits believe the Steelers will go ahead and extend Porter Jr. this offseason which would likely drain what is left of this year's cap if they adjust the 2026 money at all but would almost certainly but the team well into the negative for the 2027 offseason. This is new territory for Pittsburgh under General Manager Omar Khan.

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This article originally appeared on Steelers Wire: Huge contracts wreck Steelers future free agent plans