4 reasons the Steelers extending Joe Haden is the wrong move
By Andrew Falce
With the recent interview revealing that Haden wants a new contract, here are the four reasons the Steelers shouldn’t extend the cornerback.
In a recent interview, Steelers cornerback Joe Haden has stated that he wants an extension with the team in order to retire with the team. While Haden has been a gift for the team ever since he signed with them in 2017, giving him an extension isn’t the best idea right now.
I don’t want to demean or undermine what Haden has done for the secondary (he was a key part of the unit turning itself around). That all said, here are the four reasons that the Steelers shouldn’t sign Haden to a contract extension.
Steelers are set for a rebuild
Like it or not, assuming Ben Roethlisberger retires after this season, the team will be set to have a couple of leaner years. While this team has an immense amount of talent, not having a capable quarterback really holds any team back. This means the team would be allocating money to an aging cornerback that likely wouldn’t be around for the next Steelers franchise quarterback.
Even if the team drafts their next passer early in the draft next year, there is no guarantee that pick will hit, and even if he does, he may still need a year or two to develop before bringing this team back to a perennial playoff contender.
Will the team necessarily have to do a complete rebuild and suffer through a myriad of losing seasons? No, but it should be expected that this team will have a string of middle-of-the-pack or worse seasons coming up. Signing Haden won’t change that, unfortunately.