Hines Ward doesn’t want to retire. And if the Steelers don’t want him next year, he’ll try to find a job elsewhere.
“It would be weird, not how I want it to happen,” Ward told Ed Bouchette of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. “But I do want to play. I still think I can play. I’m not even thinking like that -- what if. If that scenario happens, I’ll be devastated, but I do want to play football.”
Ward is due $4 million next season. He knows he’ll have to take a pay cut and is willing to do so.
“I want to be here, I’m telling you I’m willing to do that,” Ward said. “And I understand the ramifications -- we have the cap number and stuff, but I want to be here.”
The Steelers may be ready to move on. They have their top three out wide: Mike Wallace, Antonio Brown, and Emmanuel Sanders.
Ward’s production fell dramatically this year. He averaged only 8.6 yards-per-catch and didn’t top 400 yards receiving. It was his worst yardage total since he was a rookie in 1998.