The Steelers' salary cap situation will be the story of the offseason as the team tries to get back in the black.
If you follow Spotrac's projections of 2021 having a salary cap of $185 million, the Steelers currently are $14.2 million over the salary cap. As the organization looks at the most expensive contracts to find ways to make room, keeping Joe Haden as key player has to be part of the plan.
Haden will be 32 years old at the start of the 2021 season, playing in the final year of his contract and set to be a $15.5 million cap hit for the Steelers. That's the second-largest cap hit for the Steelers with their current contract situation, and it might become the largest if Ben Roethlisberger's contract negotiations lower his cap hit enough.
Either way, the $7 million that could be freed up by releasing Haden could look tempting to anyone looking from the outside-in. But making such a move with be a huge mistake.
Haden broke up 12 passes in 2020, leading the Steelers and having the 18th most in the NFL, and nabbed two interceptions. He was a pillar for the Steelers' pass defense that gave up the third-fewest passing yards, fifth-fewest touchdowns and recorded the most interceptions in the NFL.
According to Pro Football Focus, Haden allowed one catch for every 14.2 snaps in coverage. That was the tenth-best rate in the NFL of players who played at least 300 snaps in coverage. How Haden gets his job done is what keeps him at the top of his game despite playing eleven years in the NFL.
Haden's technique and decision-making always keep him in position to make plays on the ball. Watch how he ran with A.J. Green on this deep in route as he kept his patience with outside leverage and broke on the route when Green made his cut and attacked the ball over his back shoulder:
That's all subtlety, timing and precision to make the play.
It's also how Haden made his career. He's never been a supremely fast cornerback in the NFL, as shown in his 4.52 seconds time in the 40-yard dash during the 2010 NFL Scouting Combine.
He's made it a priority to stay in the best shape to keep up his footwork and quickness so that when he's using his technique and experience on the field that its put to the best use:
Athlete: @joehaden23
— Footwork_King 🤴🏾 (@footwork_king1) February 17, 2021
These movements bind together with Joe’s 🏈Skills/IQ - in game situations. I sharpen Joe’s tools to help assist him on the field. Joe stays focused on his 🏈Skills/IQ because his movement efficiency & technique will translate-become second nature to Joe. pic.twitter.com/qgQfX3YqA9
And he's done that against various types of receivers, and even other positions. Haden is a studious player who knows how to best match up with different players based on their strengths and weaknesses.
Watch how he quickly broke on Jonnu Smith over the middle, all without letting Smith use his size to bully Haden out of his position:
Breakups on those kinds of matchups that offenses look to create are huge.
Haden's experience and savvy even allow him to recover when he's initially beat at the start of the route.
Watch how even after getting caught with his eyes in the backfield, Haden knew to close the distances fight through the hands to prevent a touchdown reception. Many cornerbacks would be worried about looking back for the ball or trying to do too much and not make this play, while Haden simply used solid fundamentals:
And instincts like that don't just get breakups, they also get interceptions.
Every defense needs players it can count on to occasionally break the script and make plays. But the players you want doing that are usually the most experienced and most reliable of the unit, which is why the Steelers would prefer Haden to do that rather than others.
Watch how he came out of his zone assignment on this play when he read Robert Griffin's pass long before he threw it to pick it off and take it back for a touchdown. Recognizing things like that comes from understanding tendencies and translating film study to on-field judgments:
In this case, his judgment was very good.
Haden is a talent at cornerback who isn't going away just because of his age. His skillset and talents aren't based in a need for speed or strength that can fade over time for aging players. The Steelers will recognize that and make sure he stays around for next season because they need a player of his caliber to keep up his crucial part of the secondary.
And with the projected $169 million in cap space the Steelers have waiting for them in 2022, he may play himself into consideration for being part of their plans even beyond the final year of his current contract.