After CB Joe Haden was released by the Cleveland Browns days before the 2017 season began, the Pittsburgh Steelers weren’t the only team calling his phone. But in the end, Haden decided to stay in-division and compete with Pittsburgh. Now retired, Haden revealed the teams he chose Pittsburgh over.
“Pittsburgh’s hitting me. New Orleans, and Miami. I had three squads that was hitting me,” Haden said as special guest on Johnny Manziel’s Glory Daze podcast.
It didn’t take long for Pittsburgh to seal the deal. On the same day his release from Cleveland became official, the Steelers announced they had signed Haden to a three-year, $27 million deal. A rare aggressive move from Pittsburgh but one that took from an AFC North foe and boosted the Steelers’ secondary all at the same time.
For Haden, the money between the three teams wasn’t the difference maker. It was the coach, the team, and opportunity.
“Two minutes later, I got three [offers],” Haden said of how quickly things moved post-release. “I got a bunch of teams but these are the three best offers. We’ve got New Orleans, we’ve got Miami, and we’ve got Pittsburgh. I’m rocking with Mike T. I love Mike T. AB’s been trying to burn me up for the last seven years. I’m cool, I’d rather be on his team than against him. At the end of the day, the bread was all kind of similar.”
Battling in the AFC North for nearly a decade, Haden and Tomlin knew each other well. But the pair’s roots go deeper than that, a relationship first forged ahead of the 2010 NFL Draft when Haden was a blue-chip prospect out of Florida.
“I love Coach Tomlin. Always loved him coming out of the draft. They had the 15th pick, they ended up picking [Maurkice] Pouncey my teammate…[Tomlin’s] vibe from the first time I met him. ‘Joe, you’re a hell of a player. We’re not going to be high enough to get you but I love your game.’”
Cleveland took Haden seventh overall while the Steelers took Pouncey 18th (not 15th like Haden said but close enough). Haden became an anchor of the Browns’ defense and one of the better cornerbacks in football, remaining loyal despite the franchise’s utter lack of success. The chance to win drove him to Pittsburgh.
“It’s just a kind of different vibe,” Haden said of his time with the Steelers compared to the Browns. “Everybody’s kinda chilling. Coach T, you just know he’s running shit there. He’s so honest and very, very easy to talk to. And all you want from your head coach is be honest with me and tell me the truth.”
Unfortunately, winning remained fleeting. The Steelers had more regular-season success than the Browns and made the playoffs in three of Haden’s five seasons with the team. But they came up short in each postseason game, including an upset loss against the Browns in 2020, a game Haden missed after testing positive for COVID. Despite that, he’s never shown any regrets about the decision and enjoyed one heck of a career.
