The Steelers converted $1.35 million of the $2.125 million base salary that Wilcox was scheduled to earn in 2017 into a signing bonus. The restructure created $675,000 in additional salary cap space for the Steelers in 2017.
The restructure drops Wilcox’s 2017 cap charge from $2.375 million to $1.7 million. Additionally, his 2018 cap charge has increased from $3.125 million to $3.8 million.
That's $8M Now for Tuitt to sign. You can get a contract under that cap number pretty easily. Perhaps the Steelers are shooting for $6M on the books this year for Tuitt's signing so they have $2M for emergency signings.