The Pittsburgh Steelers figure to be in the market for a nickel cornerback either in free agency, the draft, or both. On Monday, the Buffalo Bills released a slot defender who might just interest the Steelers ahead of the start of free agency.
The Bills released cornerback Nickell Robey-Coleman on Tuesday after they reportedly tried to trade him. The 5’8″ cornerback was originally signed by the Bills as an undrafted free agent in 2013 after playing his college football at USC. Roby played in 64 consecutive games for the Bills over the course of the last four seasons that included him registering 3 interceptions, 28 defensed passes and 138 total tackles.
If you buy what Pro Football Focus says, Robey-Coleman allowed a passer rating of 74.86 in the slot last season and that was second-best for slot cornerbacks just behind Chris Harris Jr. of the Denver Broncos.
The Bills thought enough of Robey-Coleman to sign him to a two year, $4.1 million contract extension in August of 2015. However, that deal was done when Rex Ryan was still the head coach of the team.
Robey-Coleman appears to have some special teams value as he registered 6 total tackles in that phase of the game last season.
There’s certainly no guaratee the Steelers will have interest in Robey-Coleman even though he figures to be cheap right now. With that said, the team could use another slot cornerback on their roster with William Gay getting up there in age and former second-round draft pick Senquez Golson yet to play a single down over the course of the last two seasons because of injuries.
