PITTSBURGH -- The Pittsburgh Steelers bolstered their secondary by signing safety Mike Mitchell to a five-year, $25 million contract, and they did so while putting minimal stress on their salary cap.

Mitchell’s cap hit in 2014 will be just $2.2 million, according to ESPN Stats & Information, and the guaranteed money in his contract is just $5.25 million with $4.75 million of that coming from his signing bonus and a $500,000 roster bonus the fifth-year veteran is due in April.

I included the impending roster bonus as guaranteed money because it would make no sense for the Steelers to release Mitchell less than a month after signing him.

Here is a breakdown of his contract:

2014: $950,000 signing bonus, $750,000 base salary and $500,000 roster bonus. Cap hit: $2.2 million.

2015: $2 million base salary, $2 million roster bonus and $950,000 signing bonus: Cap hit: $4.95 million.

2016: $5 million base salary and $950,000 base salary. Cap hit: $5.95 million.

2017: $5 million base salary and $950,000 base salary. Cap hit: $5.95 million.

2018: $5 million base salary and $950,000 base salary. Cap hit: $5.95 million.

Mitchell’s relatively small cap hit of $2.2 million for 2014 provides the Steelers with some flexibility as they were about $7 million under the cap before signing Mitchell.