Steelers sign former Browns Pro Bowl cornerback Joe Haden
If Joe Haden can turn back the clock to the 2013-14 seasons, the Steelers will be getting one of the top cornerbacks in the NFL.
If Haden turns back the clock only to the 2015-16 seasons, the Steelers won't be getting much bang for their bucks.
A two-time Pro Bowl player, Haden has been plagued by injuries the past two seasons, and that adds a big question mark to the three-year, $27 million contract the Steelers gave the former Cleveland Browns cornerback Wednesday.
The 28-year-old Haden agreed on a contract with the Steelers shortly after clearing waivers at 4 p.m. Wednesday, hours after he was released by the Browns, ending his seven-year tenure in Cleveland. He will make $7 million this season, per multiple reports.
The Steelers traveled to Charlotte, N.C., on Wednesday in advance of their preseason finale Thursday against the Carolina Panthers. Haden met with Steelers officials in Charlotte and finalized the deal Wednesday night.
Welcome to Pittsburgh, @joehaden23‼️#official pic.twitter.com/6n7zjzVem3
" Pittsburgh Steelers (@steelers) August 31, 2017
The Steelers, after trading for tight end Vance McDonald on Tuesday, had $10.5 million in salary cap space, according to the salary-tracking website overthecap.com .
Adding Haden at $7 million would leave little room for the Steelers to extend defensive end Stephon Tuitt's contract without shedding some veteran salary. The Steelers are attempting to sign Tuitt before the team's imposed season-opening deadline.
As for Haden, he won't have much time to get acclimated to the Steelers' system or before facing his former team. The Steelers and Browns open the season Sept. 10 in Cleveland.
The seventh overall selection in the 2010 draft, Haden flourished in his fourth and fifth seasons with the Browns. He had a combined 40 passes defensed and seven interceptions in the 2013-14 seasons, making the Pro Bowl each time and earning second-team All-Pro honors in 2013.
Prior to the 2014 season, the Browns signed Haden to a five-year, $68 million contract extension. He was due to make $11 million in 2017, but the Browns wanted him to take a $4 million pay cut.
Haden's injury problems surfaced in 2015 when a pair of concussions limited him to five games. Last season, he played through two groin injuries that required surgery in January. In total, he played 18 games from 2015-16.
By signing Haden, the Steelers believe they can upgrade at right cornerback and help the defense transition to a press coverage scheme. The Steelers struggled in that area in the AFC championship game loss to the New England Patriots with Ross Cockrell manning the right side and William Gay playing in the slot.
Last year, with Cockrell starting all 16 games on the right side, the Steelers finished 16th in passing yardage allowed, giving up 242.6 per game. Artie Burns, entering his second season, will start on the left side.
The Steelers showed they weren't content at the right cornerback position by offering Cockrell, a restricted free agent, an original-round tender in the offseason. They also signed veteran Coty Sensabaugh to a two-year deal to provide depth in the secondary.
The Steelers then used third-round and fifth-round picks to take cornerbacks Cameron Sutton and Brian Allen, respectively, in the NFL Draft.
Cockrell entered training camp as the starter, but by the third preseason game he was alternating series with Sensabaugh. Sutton didn't play until the third preseason game because of injury.
Gay also remains on the roster. He lost his starting job at left cornerback to Burns midway through the 2016 season and has served as the team's nickel corner since that time.
Haden is the highest-profile corner the Steelers have added in recent seasons. In 2015, they signed Cockrell after his release from the Buffalo Bills. They also traded a draft pick to the Philadelphia Eagles for Brandon Boykin before the start of that season. The Steelers also traded for the Browns' Justin Gilbert, another former first-round pick, prior to the 2016 season.
The Steelers also added cornerback Dashaun Phillips in a minor trade with the Washington Redskins a few weeks ago.
