Steelers ink CB Haden to three-year deal
One would hope the Steelers know something about Joe Haden that those who鈥檝e watched him the last couple of years don鈥檛.
The Steelers signed the former Cleveland Browns cornerback to a three-year contract for a reported $27 million, which is said to include a $7 million payment this season.
The Steelers went into the deal with an estimated $10.5 million in available cap space after the trade for tight end Vance McDonald. If all of Haden蘑菇视频 $7 million were to hit the cap, it would leave the Steelers with the requisite $3.5 million emergency/practice squad/roster displacement funds, but not enough to extend Stephon Tuitt蘑菇视频 contract.
Certainly Ross Cockrell蘑菇视频 $1.8 million is in danger. The other potential left cornerback, Coty Sensabaugh, who wasn鈥檛 at Tuesday蘑菇视频 practice, is scheduled to make $775,000 in salary.
The payoff to Haden is rather large for a player who蘑菇视频 been ravaged by injuries the last two seasons, is recovering from off-season groin surgery, and who蘑菇视频 having a poor preseason, according to the analytics-driven site Football Outsiders.
Haden, of course, was destined for stardom after the Browns made him the seventh pick in the 2010 draft. They picked him that high in spite of the fact he蘑菇视频 only 5-10 3/4 tall and was timed at the NFL Combine in 4.62 seconds. But the Browns 鈥� and most teams 鈥� believed Haden played well enough at Florida to deserve such an elite draft spot. And Haden did overcome the question marks to make the Pro Bowl following the 2013 and 2014 seasons.
But Haden蘑菇视频 career took a nosedive in 2015 when he suffered a major concussion that cost him 10 games. Last season he played through groin injuries that were surgically repaired in the off-season.
According to Football Outsiders, Haden was 76th out of 87 eligible cornerbacks in adjusted yards allowed per pass last season, and he allowed a league-high six touchdowns. His 1.48 yards per coverage snap was the 12th highest among eligible cornerbacks, and this preseaon that number went up to 1.61 with an individual passer rating allowed of 104.6.
Of course, Haden, 28, is both young enough to overcome the physical issues and old enough to help the Steelers as a savvy No. 2 cornerback.
However, the Steelers鈥� recent track record of finding castoff cornerbacks in August hasn鈥檛 been exemplary (Brandon Boykin, Justin Gilbert), nor were they particularly astute in signing injured free agent Ladarius Green last season.
Those who鈥檝e watched Gilbert play lately aren鈥檛 optimistic the Steelers鈥� recent bad luck will change.
鈥淗e plays like he蘑菇视频 awaiting his next injury,鈥� said one source in Cleveland. 鈥淪till gets around the ball. Is clearly motivated. But never was super fast and now is tentative.鈥�
鈥淗e蘑菇视频 slowed down and can no longer cover a No. 1 WR,鈥� said another Cleveland source. 鈥淭he team is excited about some of the new DBs and want to see them get an opportunity.鈥�
The Steelers, though, have had success in patching up depleted areas. In 2010, while trying to rebuild an offensive line without reaching in the draft, the Steelers signed offensive tackle Flozell Adams in late July to replace an injured Willie Colon. Adams started all 19 games on the way to a berth in the Super Bowl.
And on another optimistic note, SteelCityInsider.net capologist Ian Whestone doesn鈥檛 believe all $7 million paid to Haden will hit this year蘑菇视频 cap.
鈥淚 would guess maybe $3 to $3.5 million,鈥� said Whetstone. 鈥淎nd I figure about $3 million in available space is needed to do a deal with Tuitt, so offhand I expect that they鈥檒l have just about exactly enough to pull it off.鈥�
The Steelers are in Charlotte preparing to play the Carolina Panthers in Thursday night蘑菇视频 preseason finale.