Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker Ryan Shazier was placed on the physically unable to perform list earlier this week due to his recovery from a spinal cord injury. It is still unclear if he’ll ever make a full recovery, let alone play football again.
On Thursday news came out of Pittsburgh that they had converted $8.26 million of Shazier’s 2018 Salary into a signing bonus.
The Steelers have converted $8.26M of LB Ryan Shazier’s 2018 base salary into a signing bonus, per source. Shazier, placed on PUP Wednesday, earns that money now. While there are no cap implications, it’s a great gesture by a first rate organization.
— Field Yates (@FieldYates) May 3, 2018
Shazier is said to be the one who asked the Steelers to convert the salary into a signing bonus, via ESPN:
The Pittsburgh Steelers have converted $8.26 million of linebacker Ryan Shazier‘s $8.718 million base salary for 2018 into a signing bonus, according to a league source.
In doing so, Shazier will receive this money immediately, a solid gesture by the organization for a beloved player throughout Pittsburgh.
A source told ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler that Shazier approached the Steelers about the conversion and the move was done at his request.
Hopefully Shazier is able to make a full recovery, even if he never plays football again.
