Few teams can ever be said to be ‘complete’ even once you get into the regular season. There is bound to be one position or two where one of your starters is less than spectacular or your depth is lacking and you’re poorly insulated.
Virtually no team ever has a ‘complete’ roster weeks out of training camp. At some point or another, your group is going to change. The Pittsburgh Steelers have been as active in their roster-building once they hit training camp as most teams are. So how can they continue to build their 2022 roster between now and the start of the regular season?
Is it insulating at the running back position by adding an experienced backup to Najee Harris? Or perhaps going out and trading for a quality tackle who can at least provide swing reserve strength, if not challenge for a starting job?
For Doug Kyed writing for Pro Football Focus, he instead has them going back to the familiar well and re-signing cornerback Joe Haden, who has spent the past five seasons in Pittsburgh. Haden has been on the free agent market since the beginning of the offseason, and has remained unsigned with little reported interest.
“Haden, 33, remains unsigned but still appeared to have more in the tank last season”, Kyed wrote. “He has offers currently on the table, per a source. Even with Minkah Fitzpatrick at safety, the Steelers ranked 28th in Mike Renner’s secondary unit rankings”.
Still, it doesn’t appear that there is much of any interest on the Steelers’ part in bringing him back. They haven’t given any indications that they are looking to supplement their trio of Cameron Sutton, Ahkello Witherspoon, and outside addition Levi Wallace.
In fact, Haden even seemed to allude earlier this offseason to selling property that he had in Pittsburgh and heading back to Cleveland, where he spent the first seven years of his career. There was a recent reference that to some even implied a possible interest in returning to the Browns.
Behind the top trio, the Steelers have James Pierre, Arthur Maulet, and Justin Layne at cornerback, all of whom were on the roster last season. The only difference from 2021 is the swapping out of Haden for Wallace.
Personally speaking, I think a lot of people are underselling the collective strength of this cornerback group, even if none of them are outstanding, and additional resources would be better spent addressing other areas of the roster. But I certainly wouldn’t say no to re-signing Haden on a very cheap deal if that’s what he’s willing to accept at the end of the day.
