Pittsburgh Steelers Sign C Maurkice Pouncey to Extension
By Kim Myers
The Pittsburgh Steelers have agreed to terms for a five-year extension with center Maurkice Pouncey for a reported $44 million. This locks Pouncey up for the next six years as he has one year remaining on his rookie deal. The deal also makes Maurkice Pouncey the highest paid center in the NFL.
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The report was initially made by Pro Football Talk on Thursday morning that the Steelers agreed to the extension with Pouncey that includes a $13 million signing bonus. The deal exceeds the contract Browns center Alex Mack made earlier this year when he signed a 5-year $42 million offer sheet with Jacksonville, and then Cleveland matched the terms. Pouncey’s deal will pay him roughly $8.8 million per year.
Ed Bouchette, Steelers reporter for the PPG, confirmed the PFT reports via Twitter.
#Steelers sign Maurkice Pouncey to five-year, $44 M extension, putting him under contract for 6 years at $48 M, sources confirming PFT rept
— Ed Bouchette (@EdBouchette) June 12, 2014
This is the first big move the Steelers have made since the June 1st addition of the extra cap space aside from inking deals with draft picks. The Steelers still have yet to sign Stephon Tuitt and Dri Archer to contracts but their figures won’t count if they’re not part of the 51 highest paid on the team.
Maurkice Pouncey gets his big money deal just less than a year from tearing his ACL. He missed the majority of the 2013 season. He also made the Pro Bowl in three straight seasons from 2010-2012. While he did miss out on Super Bowl XLV due to a high-ankle sprain, in his first three seasons he only missed 3 regular season games. While many will say he is injury-prone, you can’t exactly hold last year’s incident where David DeCastro fell into Pouncey’s knee, causing the ACL tear, against Pouncey.
What are your thoughts on the contract extension for Maurkice Pouncey?