PITTSBURGH — The Steelers have picked up injured linebacker Ryan Shazier's contract in each of the past two seasons knowing that he would never play a down for them in those years.
They could do so because Shazier's rookie contract simply rolled over each year, meaning they could pay him the minimum league salary as he continued to rehab from a devastating spinal cord injury suffered in Cincinnati late in the 2017 season.
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But Shazier's contract won't toll again in 2020, meaning the Steelers have to figure out a way to keep him around beyond what they've done the past couple of seasons.
"We have to sit down with Ryan and talk through what the next step will be," team president Art Rooney II said Wednesday. "We haven’t done that yet. There’s more to come in terms of sitting down and figuring out what that next step will be."
The issue is the 27-year-old Shazier continues to hold out hope of returning to the NFL. He has used that as a motivational tool in his workouts as he has continued to progress from being unable to walk to now running.
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