Steelers Pretty Much Weaseled Their Way Out of Paying Chris Boswell His Roster Bonus
By Max Scoli
Chris Boswell had a rough 2018 campaign for the Pittsburgh Steelers, only making 65 percent of his field goal attempts, a 20-point drop from his prior career-worst.
As a result, we had to know the Steelers were going to take action here considering he's owed a lot of money for next season.
Boswell was set to earn a $2 million roster bonus, but the front office isn't quite ready to give it to him.
Steelers told K Chris Boswell they would delay his $2 million roster bonus, which was due in mid-March, till after the final preseason game in Carolina. If Boswell didn't agree, they would have cut him. Steelers want to see more before deciding to give him a chance at redemption
— Gerry Dulac (@gerrydulac) May 29, 2019
The organization threatened to release the kicker if he did not agree to wait until the beginning of next season for his bonus. His terrible year has opened the door for some competition as the 2017 Pro Bowler will have to fight to keep his job and prove he's back on track during the preseason.
Chris Boswell is fighting for his job. This Is who he is battling. https://t.co/IkNu9EDpEK
— Mark Kaboly (@MarkKaboly) May 29, 2019
While the thought of scrapping all his mechanics and starting over came to mind, he ultimately decided to stick with what he knows and maintain confidence in his ability to deliver.
"IT DIDN'T WORK LAST YEAR BUT I'M NOT JUST GOING TO SCRATCH EVERYTHING" -- Chris Boswell is eager to bounce back from a nightmare of a season where he was 13 of 20 on FG tries and missed an NFL worst 5 extra points. https://t.co/yDKPOAJmEw pic.twitter.com/Iq5SLoGMLs
— Chase Williams WPXI (@chasepwilliams) May 28, 2019
While the Steelers are simply pushing Boswell to be the quality kicker that they know he can be, not giving him his bonus only adds more pressure to a player who is already struggling to get back on his feet.
If the Rice product wants to stay in the NFL, he will need to improve by a considerable margin to prevent the Steelers from looking for an alternative option.