6 best Steelers free agent signings under Kevin Colbert

Joe Haden

In August 2017, feeling that their highest-paid player’s performance no longer aligned with his compensation, Cleveland implored franchise cornerstone, Joe Haden, to take a pay cut.

The cornerback declined any reduction in his salary and when the Browns couldn’t find a partner to barter with, was cut loose.

It took only a few hours for him to find a new dwelling. The Steelers, familiar with Haden’s guarding abilities, promptly picked up the phone and offered him a helmet and pads.

Seven months earlier, Pittsburgh’s championship hopes perished in the AFC Championship in dreaded Foxborough, the team watching helplessly as Tom Brady disassembled its secondary and, soon after, won a fifth title.

Mike Tomlin had come to realize that he needed to gear his defense more toward man coverage than the zone scheme that Brady had been so effortlessly picked apart. Even having disappointed the year before, Haden was an obvious upgrade over letdown Artie Burns and Ross Cockrell.

While hampered by concussions in 2015 and groin injuries in 2016, Haden played in only 18 combined games in his final two seasons with the Browns. Still, when he put pen to paper, he ranked third in the conference in interceptions since his rookie year.

Since joining forces, Haden has played in more games than any other Steeler defensive back. Dating back four seasons, he leads the division with ten interceptions. In 2019, after ranking second in the AFC in picks, he was named to the Pro Bowl for a third time.