I wish I had time, I could have swore you ridiculed this pick a couple years back...I realize it was a 1st rounder and they only recovered a 5th rounder, but a player is a player. Either he can play or he can't. When we took him, we didn't know, now we do and we still got a pick out of him.
I will save you the trouble he wasn't first round material but he played his best ball at center his senior year...he wasn't overly strong coming out and needed to b a backup but he was better than 5th round talent is all I'm saying
So far, everyone is commenting on the Salary Cap aspect of releasing Joe Haden. Isn't it possible that a team that is rebuilding - and - has cap room to spare, considers a roster spot more valuable to better develop young players than the cap room itself? Keeping Joe on the roster would have meant cutting a young player that may or may not get toasted once or twice a game as Joe has been prone to doing on a disturbingly increasing frequency over the past few years ( when he has been healthy enough to actually play).
Yes, in fact I believe SAS did mention that and it is very logical...other than the fact they asked Haden to reduce his 2017 salary to $7M and he turned them down, which then led to his release after not being able to find a trade partner. THEN, he turns around and signs with the Steelers for exactly $7M in 2017..He wanted out to get his ring, I can't hold it against him, but as to your point, it doesn't sound like they expected him to be one of the players to get them to the Super Bowl, so if they are right, he may deter the Steelers from doing the same.