At various points over the past eight months, Cameron Heyward and representatives of the Pittsburgh Steelers brain trust said all the right things about hammering out a contract extension.

But it often also was said over a malaise of doubt.

“There was a time where this was almost dead, to be completely honest,” Heyward said during a video conference call Monday. “I was getting ready for farewells and getting ready for my farewell tour and this being my last ride.”

Of course, news broke late Sunday night that those anticipated goodbyes weren’t necessary, perhaps for as long as at least another four years.

The Steelers officially announced Monday they agreed to a four-year extension with Heyward that would pay him a reported $75.1 million between now and the 2024 season.

“I’ve always wanted to be a Pittsburgh Steeler,” said Heyward, a 2011 first-round pick of the club. “I couldn’t see myself being anywhere else, but I had to be ready for that reality.”

Heyward’s new deal replaces the final year of a six-year, $59 million contract he signed in 2015. At the time of that signing, Heyward had started only 29 games over four seasons and had 15 career sacks.

Today, he is a 31-year-old who has been named All-Pro twice and to the Pro Bowl three times, a timeframe during which Heyward amassed 29 sacks.

But so much else is different from when Heyward signed his second contract and his third deal.

The uncertainty of an expiring collective bargaining agreement weighed on Heyward during the early months of his contract year. But the anxieties of January and February seem like child’s play compared to the coronavirus pandemic that has trampled so many aspects of American life since March. Even under a new CBA, the salary cap is expected to drop because of restrictions on gatherings that will cause league revenues to plummet.

Unease about future employment and income is one thing when you’re a relative newlywed. But, five years later, when you have three children. …

“Me and my wife were talking about that. It’s crazy to think,” Heyward said. “But having kids, going through a pandemic, just the level of uncertainty was at an all-time high, the salary cap changing and not knowing what the team can do in these situations, it (all) played a big role of anxiety.

“I have been reading my bible, been at bible study a bunch because I needed it, and I am not afraid to admit it. I needed a lot of counseling and a lot of guidance through this. But I am glad we were able to get it done.”

Cameron Heyward: “I was getting ready for my farewell tour. I thought it was going to be goodbye.”Said the contract extension with Steelers came together after a summer of doubts it could or would pic.twitter.com/PW6nNnzj8c

— Chris Adamski (@C_AdamskiTrib) September 7, 2020

Heyward becomes the only Steelers player signed through 2024. Before the extension, the salary-cap hit from his contract in 2020 trailed only Ben Roethlisberger, Bud Dupree and Stephon Tuitt among Steelers.

Though the precise details of the contract are not yet known, the smidge more $15 million reported average annual value of the contract is the most for a defensive player older than 30 in NFL history.

Therein lied another rub in the Steelers’ efforts to extend Heyward. Could they ink a deal in which the player would be 35 by the time it would expire? Combined with the uncertainty because of the pandemic, it all led Heyward to believe as recently as Saturday the deal wasn’t going to get done before the deadline of the regular-season opener.

“To be honest with you,” Heyward said, “I thought it was dead.”

Heyward said talks in earnest began last month but broke off last week. However, things changed after an early-morning chat with Steelers president Art Rooney II on Sunday.

“I won’t divulge what was said, but me and Mr. Rooney got to talking, and you know, I’m just appreciative of him,” Heyward said. “I understand it’s a family business, and I understand how serious he takes this. But you know, along with that, I wanted to be a Pittsburgh Steeler and he made that happen for me.”

Heyward said that the sides “sped through” the details of a pact from there.

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