Pittsburgh Steelers veteran cornerback Ike Taylor and the $7 million base salary that he is scheduled to earn in 2014 is a giant elephant in the room this offseason and Gerry Dulac of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette addressed his situation on Wednesday during his weekly chat session.
According to Dulac, “The best Ike can hope for is to be offered — and for him to accept — a big pay cut.”
Even if Taylor does return at a lower rate in 2014, however, Dulac doesn’t think the Steelers will convert him to safety either because Taylor is “not a good tackler, nor is he that physical.”
While Taylor certainly isn’t worth a $7 million base salary, he does have value to the Steelers being as they simply don’t have depth at the cornerback position. If they were to cut him outright, they would be left with Cortez Allen and William Gay as their starting corners until a draft pick is ready to play.
Taylor isn’t flashy with his hands made of concrete, but he knows the system inside and out, and is willing to play the run. He still has a year or two left in him and there’s no way that he wont be back next season. The two sides will work something out and while it might not be a popular decision, I think there’s still an outside chance he gets an extension instead of an outright pay cut. The Steelers did something similar with veteran wide receiver Hines Ward back in 2009 in order to lower his cap hit.
