It has been true for some time now that the Pittsburgh Steelers have had among the most top-heavy salary caps in the NFL, measured by the percentage of a team’s total cap hit is absorbed by their largest contracts—usually determined by the top five players, but other measuring sticks have been used as well.
While this is not necessarily a bad thing, and other teams in the past have won with this structure, the Steelers haven’t managed to achieve their ultimate goal of winning the Super Bowl under it, and if things continue to develop as they are heading into 2019, they might not even be given the opportunity.