Steelers should roll the dice on injury-prone cornerback in free agency

The Pittsburgh Steelers improved their roster on paper this offseason, but this potential free agent could come with excellent results. 

Most fans I’ve talked to seem to be very pleased with how the 2022 offseason played of for the Pittsburgh Steelers. After Ben Roethlisberger retired and the team lost players like JuJu Smith-Schuster and Joe Haden, Kevin Colbert and the front office seemed to do more than enough to replace them.

The offensive line should be stronger with James Daniels and Mason Cole added to the mix, while Pittsburgh completely revamped their receiving corps with players like George Pickens, Calvin Austin, Myles Boykin, and Gunner Olszewski.

However, one position I still think they could stand to prove is cornerback. Pittsburgh did make some effort to do so by adding former Bills CB Levi Wallace this offseason. Unfortunately, Wallace’s play has gone downhill over the past few seasons, and losing Haden makes this essentially a wash.

While I was thrilled that the Steelers were able to retain Ahkello Witherspoon on a contract extension, I still think they need to do more. One player who is still on the market that Pittsburgh could roll the dice on is cornerback, Trae Waynes.

Steelers should target Waynes

Waynes was the former 11th overall pick in the 2015 NFL Draft. After an impressive college career at Michigan State, the 6’0” cornerback blazed with a 4.31 40-yard dash at the NFL Combine.

Though he hasn’t been the perennial Pro Bowl player many analysts thought he would be, Waynes was a very solid player during his first five seasons with the Minnesota Vikings before signing a 3-year, $42 million deal with the Bengals in 2020, via Over the Cap.

Unfortunately for Cincinnati, they didn’t get their money’s worth out of the talented cornerback. Waynes tore a pectoral muscle in August of 2020 and missed the entire season, according to Draft Sharks. When he finally returned healthy in 2021, Waynes suffered a Grade 2 thigh hamstring strain just before the season. He later reaggravated this injury in October.

Collectively, Waynes has played in just 5 of a possible 33 games for the Bengals over the past two seasons (not counting the playoffs), and he hasn’t been active for a full season in 2017.

There are some obvious injury risks that would come with this signing. However, the 29-year-old cornerback should be relatively cheap because of this. While I trust Witherspoon as a competent outside CB, I think the Steelers could use an upgrade over Wallace (who should be more of a sub-package defender).

Meanwhile, Cameron Sutton has proven over the years that he is best as a nickel cornerback and dime defender, while backups like Justin Layne and James Pierre haven’t proven anything with their opportunities.

Having a lineup of Witherspoon and Waynes on the outside with Sutton covering the slot and Wallace being a sub-package defender is suddenly much more enticing.

Waynes certainly isn’t guaranteed to stay healthy for a full season, but he’s a long, athletic cornerback who is worth gambling on. If he’s able to stay on the field, this could prove to be one of Pittsburgh’s biggest moves in 2022. The Steelers should give his agent a call.