Holdout hasn't 'crossed my mind,' Mike Hilton says as he awaits new deal

Mike Hilton exited minicamp without a contract and without assurances he will get a favorable deal from the Pittsburgh Steelers prior to training camp.

Because he has not signed his $645,000 exclusive-rights tender, the 25-year-old slot cornerback remains the Steelers’ only player without a contract. The Steelers don’t report to training camp until July 25, giving the two sides nearly six weeks to work out a deal.

If nothing transpires, is Hilton prepared to hold out until he gets more money?

“That hasn’t even crossed my mind,” Hilton said this week before the Steelers concluded minicamp. “I’m here for the team. I’m going to be here and try to help the team win games.”

Despite the lack of a deal, Hilton attended every voluntary offseason workout and the three-day mandatory minicamp. It was the same strategy that offensive lineman Alejandro Villanueva used in 2017 when he was in a similar contract situation.

Like Hilton, Villanueva was a two-year starter at left tackle when he declined to sign his exclusive-rights tender. Villanueva reported to training camp on time, and a four-year, $24 million deal was announced a few hours later.

“I actually had a couple conversations with Al,” Hilton said. “Just how he went about doing it and how he approached it. Having that conversation with him, he kind of broke it down to me and kind of gave me a blueprint of how to go about it.”

Hilton didn’t want to discuss any pointers that Villanueva may have provided him.

“I can’t say too much,” he said. “We really had a deep conversation.”

As an undrafted free agent who joined the Steelers’ practice squad late in the 2016 season, Hilton has had little control over his contract situation in subsequent season, and he isn’t eligible to become a restricted free agent until after 2019.

After Hilton emerged as the starting slot corner in 2017 and contributed 54 tackles, four sacks and two interceptions, he changed agents and signed with Drew Rosenhaus.

“It was a better opportunity,” Hilton said. “Everybody knows how strong Drew’s game is. It was a good opportunity for me and my family, so I had to jump at that chance.”

One drawback for Hilton is that, unlike Villanueva, he is not on the field for all of his unit’s snaps. He has played an average of about 57% of the defensive snaps the past two seasons. And the Steelers have more options at slot corner this year than they did at left tackle in 2017 when Villanueva was seeking his new deal.

Another obstacle is that the Steelers have less than $1 million in salary-cap space available.

Still, Hilton is optimistic he can get a new deal before training camp.

“It worked out for (Villanueva) in the long run,” he said. “We’ll see how it turns out in the next month or so. I’m doing all I can to be here and to show them I want to be here.”