4 potential Steelers free agent targets who are ripe for the picking
By Tommy Jaggi
CB Trae Waynes
If the Steelers are looking to gamble on a potential high-reward player with an injury history, look no further than cornerback, Trae Waynes. At his best, Waynes hasn’t quite lived up to lofty expectations as a former 11th overall pick of the Minnesota Vikings back in 2015. However, he’s been a very solid outside cornerback thanks to his length, speed, and ability to stick with receivers.
Unfortunately, Waynes hasn’t played more than 14 games in an NFL season since 2017. But it’s because of this that the veteran cornerback should come fairly cheap at this point in his career.
The Steelers made a minor effort to improve the cornerback position this offseason when they added former Bills starter, Levi Wallace. However, Wallace’s overall PFF grade has gone down each year since entering the league, and the former undrafted free agent has a tendency to get beat with speed on the outside due to his lack of athletic traits.
Waynes, on the other hand, is a tall, athletic cornerback who can run with a team’s top receiver. Pairing him on the outside with another long, athletic player like Ahkello Witherspoon would be even better for Pittsburgh. This would allow Wallace and Cameron Sutton to be used in sub-packages.