Steelers kicker Chris Boswell optimistic contract extension will come before season starts

As a man who has made more than 93% of his kicks over the past three seasons, Chris Boswell is close to being a sure thing.

Boswell made it sound as if ironing out a contract extension with the Pittsburgh Steelers qualifies as such.

“I am sure. I am sure,” Boswell said Thursday when asked if he was optimistic a deal would be worked out by the start of the regular season Sept. 11. “But I am here to kick, and I am here to do what I can for the team. I am not here to think about a contract or numbers.

“I am going to go out there (and work). I made it that way this far in my career, so I am not going to start worrying about that (contract situation) now.”

Boswell, 31, is entering the final season of a four-year, $16.8 million contract he signed in 2018. He is due to make $3.26 million in base salary this season with a $4.95 million salary-cap hit. Under his current contract, Boswell ranks ninth in average annual salary among NFL kickers.

After the morning walkthrough practice Thursday at Saint Vincent, Boswell said an extension “is not (solely) up to me.” The Steelers announced an extension with All-Pro safety Minkah Fitzpatrick last month, and the saga with No. 1 receiver Diontae Johnson has reached the point where Johnson is sitting out team drills at camp as he enters the final year of his contract and is therefore eligible for an extension.

“I think (the Steelers) just have their priorities, who they are going to sign and when,” Boswell said. “I am just along for that ride right now, and whatever happens at that point will happen.

“That’s up to (general manager Omar Kahn) and my agent, and wherever that goes is where it goes.”

Boswell is entering his eighth NFL season, all with the Steelers since he signed with the team a month into the 2015 season. Aside from brief injury lapses, he has held the job since then. And aside from a poor 2018 season, he statistically has been one of the NFL’s most reliable kickers.

“Oh yeah, of course I want to be here (long term),” Boswell said. “I love this place. I love the city. I love the team, so all the logistics are out of my hands.”

With Fitzpatrick signed, aside from Johnson the only other likely viable candidate to get a contract extension over the next six weeks is cornerback Cameron Sutton. Other players on expiring contracts are either on one-year deals (Larry Ogunjobi, Terrell Edmunds, etc.), have had their fifth-year option for 2023 declined (Devin Bush) or aren’t considered starting-caliber (Chris Wormley, Robert Spillane, Marcus Allen, Derek Watt, etc.).

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