DeCastro signed through 2021
PITTSBURGH – The Steelers now have a $100-million line to protect their $100-million quarterback.
The Steelers that happen Thursday night, when it reached a $6-year, $58-million contract that will keep Pro Bowl guard David DeCastro through 2021.
The Steelers made signing DeCastro to an extension a priority this year to keep the 2012 first-round draft pick from reaching free agency at the end of the season.
Now, they have the core of their offensive line – DeCastro, center Maurkice Pouncey and right tackle Marcus Gilbert – signed through 2020.
DeCastro’s deal makes him the league’s third-highest-paid guard in the NFL behind Oakland’s Kelechi Osemele and Chicago’s Kyle Long, each of whom signed deals earlier this year.
Castro was scheduled to earn $8 million in 2016 after the Steelers picked up the option on the final year of his rookie contract.
With the new deal, the Steelers now have Pouncey in the middle of a 5-year, $44-million contract, Gilbert in a 5-year, $30-million deal and left guard Ramon Foster making $9.6 million over the next three seasons.
DeCastro, 26, has appeared in 51 career games, making 50 starts since the Steelers selected him in the first round of the 2012 draft out of Stanford.
DeCastro was among a handful of Steelers heading into the final season of their current contract. Unless the team does something between now and the start of the season next Monday at Washington, running backs Le’Veon Bell and DeAngelo Williams, wide receiver Markus Wheaton, linebackers Jarvis Jones, James Harrison, and Lawrence Timmons are among 13 players who will be playing in the final season of their contracts.