LATROBE, Pa. (AP) — Cam Heyward said Thursday he wants to retire with the Pittsburgh Steelers.
The 35-year-old defensive tackle also understands it’s likely not his call.
“It’s my goal, yeah. Not everybody thinks like that,” Heyward said after the Steelers first training camp practice at Saint Vincent College. “I want to be here. But a lot of football to be played, this season and (for) a couple seasons. But I can only focus on what’s in front of me.”
Heyward, selected to the Pro Bowl in six of his past seven seasons, is entering the final season of a four-year, $64 million extension signed in September 2020. He had two sacks and 33 tackles last season, missing six games after tearing his groin muscle in a season-opening loss to San Francisco.
About an hour after practice Thursday, general manager Omar Khan said he isn’t concerned with Heyward’s health entering season No. 14. Heyward was drafted in the first round (No. 31) by Pittsburgh out of Ohio State in 2011.
As for Heyward’s future with the Steelers, Khan said he believes it will last past this season.
“I’m not going to talk about a specific negotiation, but I think Cam’s got a lot of football ahead of him still. I’ll leave it at this, I expect him to be here for years to come,” Khan said.
“Last year, he had a rough stretch there. But I’m confident in the way he works and in Cam, the person and the player, obviously. I have no doubt that Cam has a lot of football left.”
Heyward said he was able to move past the injury in the offseason.
“I feel good. My groin is great, if you really want to ask,” Heyward said. “I don’t feel any lingering effects with that. I feel excited just to be out there and dealing with what I dealt with last year, I was nursing it during training camp last year, so to be full strength and not really have to worry about it is really a good sign.”
Moving on from contract speculation hasn’t been as easy since the Bills eliminated the Steelers in the wild-card round last postseason. Back on the field, Heyward said he has less time to dwell on possible negotiations.
“For me, I can’t control that,” he said. “I’m not going to get my hopes up either way. I’m not going to put stock into that. It’s just about trying to get better every day. The offseason, you can dwell on it. You can’t do anything about it.
“But the thing I can control is I can be productive. I can be healthy. If they believe in me, they think I can play more, so be it. If they don’t, do somewhere else. … Am I confident? I don’t like to go either way with that because you get your hopes up and something doesn’t happen. I’m just going to focus on being the best player I can be, controlling what I can control and being locked in for this team.”
Heyward is a Steelers defensive captain, along with linebacker T.J. Watt, and was the 2023 Walter Payton Man of the Year. He was a full participant on Thursday, choosing not to go through a camp “hold-in” after sitting out the first two weeks of OTAs in May.
“I’ll keep saying it,” Heyward said. “This team needs my leadership, my production. I look forward to doing it.”
Attempting to take it in stride, Heyward is trying to focus on the upcoming season, where Pittsburgh will try to win a playoff game for the first time since the 2016 season.
Not that it’s been easy.
“It’s a motivator, I’ll say the least,” Heyward said. “When everybody’s against you, you kind of just want to shut everybody up.”
NOTES: QB Russell Wilson was held out of practice Thursday because of calf tightness and is considered day to day, coach Mike Tomlin said. Justin Fields took first-team reps in Wilson’s place. … RB Najee Harris, who had his fifth-year option declined this offseason, was a full participant after reporting Wednesday. There remains a chance for Harris to be signed to a new contract, Khan said.
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