Aug 5, 2022 5 min read

It was a heck of a week for first-year Steelers general manager Omar Khan.

First, he quietly gets uber-reliable placekicker Chris Boswell under contract with a four-year extension that, while it ties him for being the highest-paid player at his position in the league, will be a bargain long before the contract ends as other kickers sign new deals.

Then, later in the week, he entices wide receiver Diontae Johnson to sign a two-year extension at well under the exploding market price for wide receivers.

Good work all around.

Johnson was set to make $2.8 million this season and count just under $4 million against the team’s salary cap. Now, he has a base salary of $1.5 million and counts $7.6 million against the cap.

Johnson got a check for $19 million with his signing bonus, but that $7.6-million figure means Johnson ranks 21st in the league in terms of cap hits this season.

Johnson’s cap hit goes up to $13.8 million in 2023 and $18.5 million in 2024, but those are low numbers compared to what many other wide receivers are going to cost their teams.

“It’s a function of the times and the system that we’re in,” Khan said about the exploding contracts for wide receivers this offseason. “It’s part of the process. Regardless of the position, I assume those things are going to keep growing. As the CBA grows, contracts will grow.”

The NFL’s salary cap is going to continue to go up. It jumped $20 million this year coming out of the pandemic. With new TV deals signed and other new streams of revenue that weren’t there before, such as gambling partnerships, the salary cap is expected to reach $250 million in the next couple of seasons.

Then, the contracts signed by Boswell and Johnson will be absolute bargains.

• Currently, Boswell is the fourth-most accurate placekicker in NFL history, making 88.3 percent of his kicks. Baltimore’s Justin Tucker, whose $5-million per year salary matches that of Boswell, is No. 1 all-time at 91.1 percent.

But if you take Boswell’s one sub-par season in 2018 when he made just 13 of 20 kicks out of the equation, he’s at 90.8 percent for his career, nipping on Tucker’s heels as the most accurate placekicker in league history.

Boswell respects Tucker, but he knows he’s pretty good, too.

“I wouldn’t say I’m not,” Boswell told me when I asked him if he considers himself in Tucker’s class. “I’m not full of myself, so I just pat him on the back and tell him how much of a weapon he is. I just kick when I’m called on.”

• The second-best running back in Steelers training camp behind Najee Harris, according to my eyes and some trusted sources, has been undrafted rookie Jaylen Warren out of Oklahoma State.

Warren was a 1,200-yard rusher in his one season at Oklahoma State after transferring from Utah State. And the 5-8, 215-pound ball of muscle has opened plenty of eyes in this camp with his play.

I mentioned that to him.

“Whoa. It’s early. I haven’t done anything yet,” Warren said. “To hear that, I don’t know, it’s got my blood, like, wooh. I just come in here and work. I’m undrafted. I’ve got to prove something. To hear that, it’s a really great feeling.”

• With Johnson going through his hold-in while trying to get a new contract and Chase Claypool missing practices because of a shoulder injury, rookie wide receiver George Pickens has gotten a lot of buzz.

The second-round draft pick has been impressive, though his tendency to double-catch passes could lead to some breakups when the season begins.

But the player who has benefitted the most from the two starters being out has been former Bears second-round pick Anthony Miller.

Miller has gotten many reps with the first unit and has made the most of them.

The Steelers are looking for a slot receiver after both JuJu Smith-Schuster and Ray-Ray McCloud left in free agency. And while Claypool would seem a logical choice to use in that spot, allowing Johnson and Pickens to play outside where they are more comfortable, don’t forget about the 5-11, 199-pound Miller.

“I feel like physicality is a big part of the game, especially inside when you’re seeing safeties, linebackers and even defensive ends at times,” Miller said about playing in the slot. “You’ve got to always be prepared to stick your nose in there.”

Miller had a combined 101 receptions for more than 1,100 yards in 2019 and 2020 – largely with Mitch Trubisky throwing him the ball. But for some reason, he fell out of favor with a new coaching staff in Chicago.

He’s been a welcome addition to the Steelers, who signed him to their practice squad last season after he was released inexplicably by the receiver-starved Texans. He has a real chance of making the roster and being a contributor.