The Steelers’ Joe Haden partnership has worked out remarkably well. The Pro Bowl cornerback has signed two contracts with the team and has played a key role in Pittsburgh’s defensive re-emergence over the past two seasons.
Haden is going into a contract year, however, with his two-year, $22MM agreement expiring after the 2021 season. The 12th-year veteran would prefer not to test free agency, instead seeking to sign a third Steelers pact and retire with the franchise.
“I would rather have a contract more than this year because I want to end my career here,” Haden said, via The Athletic’s Mark Kaboly (subscription required). “We will see what happens, but we want to get T.J. Watt signed first, obviously. He’s the main priority.”
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Haden’s age (32) will complicate matters, and the Steelers do have Watt and Minkah Fitzpatrick due for monster extensions. The latter is under contract through 2022, however, via the fifth-year option the Steelers exercised in May. The team, which parted ways with several veteran starters this offseason, is due to carry more than $70MM in cap space come 2022. And the perennial contenders are fond of moving money onto future caps to increase flexibility. If the Steelers want to keep Haden, they could.
This will be Haden’s fifth season with the Steelers, and the team will count on him after making big changes at corner. Pittsburgh moved on from its other two primary corners — Mike Hilton and Steven Nelson — in March and did not acquire notable replacements. The Steelers did re-sign Cameron Sutton, but they will count on at least one unproven player to log a major workload in a Haden-led position group this year.
The former Browns first-round pick signed a three-year, $27MM deal to join the Steelers in 2017, and he returned to the Pro Bowl in 2019 — months after signing his second contract with the team. After being largely an offense-oriented team during their “Killer B’s” run, the Steelers have ranked third and first in defensive DVOA over the past two seasons. The team now faces some decisions involving the key principals from this ascent.
Hard to believe that Haden has been with the Steelers for 5 years. Wow!
Yeah, I agree. I guess that’s partially because we all expected Haden’s signing to be a Band-Aid, one year type run in reality. We were wrong about that if we thought it though. I don’t know when Haden will be finished, but Pittsburgh would probably be smart to give Haden one more extension while it builds up the other defensive backs behind him. There are a lot of positions that need attention for them right now, so putting a couple off for a year or two (like CB1 or QB) would alleviate some of that pressure to rush and get them addressed immediately.
Gotta take care of Watt and Fitzpatrick first! Haden next up.
I mean, makes sense…just sign every defensive player you have to a long-term deal, and keep pushing the QB situation further and further down the road.
Yinzers won’t care about anything as long as they finish 9-8 next year, adding to Tomlin’s “we’ve never finished under .500” record. They’ve become the Cowboys of the AFC for the better part of the past 12 years.
I dunno. They’re competitive year after year. Not like we’ve gone back to the golden era of Bubby Ball. Yeah, I’d like to see them make a deep run in the playoffs and go to another Super Bowl, but that’s unlikely. Still, comparing them to Cowboys is ridiculous
Sounding a little salty there my friend
Yeah, you lost all respect when comparing the Steelers to the cowboys
Dating back to 2012: yinzers playoff 3 wins, Dallas 2. Both have scored 24.4 PPG, while Dallas has given up ~2 points less.
Regular season? Steelers 90, Dallas 78.
If Division titles were Super Bowl’s, then yes, you’re the greatest ever.
Care to defend them any further?
What’s the point of this comment? Of either of them?
Love the continual “yinzer” tag. Wow. Hurts. Yeah, we’re all middle school grads who eat pierogies three times a day and slaughter the English language. Jeez, give it a break already.
Haden will always be remembered in Cleveland for Coach my Finger hurts I can’t play. CANDY ASS!!!!!!!!!! Even the Steelers could do nothing with another Browns Reject Justin “I can’t Tackle/ I can’t Cover/ I can’t even Return Kicks’ Gilbert. Seriously though does Joe Haden know that Larry Wilson played with not one but 2 Broken Arms. The NFL is very odd as no one wanted to give the Browns anything for Haden but they got something for Gilbert.