Cameron Wake is currently a member of the Miami Dolphins, but possibly not for long. Wake’s 2016 season ended in week 8 with a torn Achilles injury. The defensive end is a prime candidate to be a cap casualty for a Dolphins team that is roughly 7 million over the cap for 2016. Wake is in the last year of his 5 year 33.2 million dollar contract. If the Dolphins were to cut him, they would save a little less then 7 million against the cap. Considering they already have a whopping 28 million in cap space to Ndamukong Suh on the D-line already, it’s almost assured they cut Wake to save money against the cap.
Now the question of would he fit with the Steelers? He did play linebacker at Penn. St. all 3 years. That makes Wake not completely unfamiliar with another the position. It’s not impossible to go from a 4-3 end to a 3-4 OLB either. Dropping into to coverage would be foreign to him, but if you use Wake strictly in passing situations as a rush specialist he’d be fine. What Cameron would command for a salary in the open market is issue. He is coming off a major injury with that torn Achilles. It is possible he’d be willing to take a 1 year deal to prove the leg is completely healthy.
The upside for the Steelers is sack totals. Cameron Wake had 7 sacks in only 7 games in 2015. That would be tied with Cameroon Heyward for the team lead for the Steelers. Wake’s sack totals over his career are 5.5, 14, 8.5, 15, 8.5, 11.5, and 7. Those are numbers Steelers fans would drool over. The Steelers haven’t had a player with double digit sacks since 2010 when both James Harrison and Lamar Woodley had 10.5. Is it a coincidence that’s also the last time the Steelers made it to the Super Bowl? If healthy Cameron Wake would be a tremendous option to end the Steelers pass rush problem in the short term.