Steelers 2-a-days: Will Joe Haden get extension? J.C. Hassenauer transitions from AAF
Editor’s note: From now until the first practice of training camp at Saint Vincent College, the Trib will be running through the Pittsburgh Steelers’ 90-man roster, assessing each player’s outlook for the 2019 season. The breakdown will go through the roster in mostly-alphabetical order, (at least) two per day, between June 14 and July 26.
CB JOE HADEN
Experience: 10th season
Contract status: $11.9 million cap hit in 2019, unrestricted free agent after the season
2019 outlook: Haden has been the No. 1 cornerback the Steelers have seemingly spent a generation searching for. A godsend when the division-rival Browns unexpectedly released him near the end of the 2017 training camp, Haden provided the secondary a stabilizing presence that’s been every bit worth the three-year, $27 million deal he signed what seems like just yesterday. Hard to believe, then, that Haden is eligible for an extension now and is entering the final year of his contract with the Steelers. But he’ll be 31 by next season, so will the Steelers have pause in giving him an extension? With no clear-cut internal options, can they afford not to?
If there’s one player more than anyone else on the #Steelers
roster who understands what it’s like to enter a season as an underdog, it’s probably Joe Haden. https://t.co/2qLE96BZE1— Tribune-ReviewSports (@TribSports) May 24, 2019
C/G J.C. HASSENAUER
Experience: Went undrafted in 2018, played in AAF in 2019
Contract status: $495,000 cap hit in 2019, remains under team control for four years
2019 outlook: Hassenauer is an interesting case because he only started three games in his college career. Then again, one of those was in the College Football Playoff title game after the 2017 season. A four-star recruited product amongst a sea of fellow four- and five-stars at Alabama, Hassenauer’s talent was apparent enough that the Atlanta Falcons signed him as an undrafted free agent and kept him on their practice squad for part of last season. Then, he was signed by the Birmingham Iron of the Alliance of American Football, playing well enough there that the Steelers signed him. He would seem to have a chance to make the Steelers’ practice squad this season.
63 for Alabama is backup left guard J.C. Hassenauer. 77 for Vanderbilt is Nifae Lealao, the one who said, "Alabama, you're next" https://t.co/cIcfSaR8Ot
— Matt Zenitz (@mzenitz) September 26, 2017
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Chris Adamski is a TribLive reporter who has covered primarily the Pittsburgh Steelers since 2014 following two seasons on the Penn State football beat. A Western Pennsylvania native, he joined the Trib in 2012 after spending a decade covering Pittsburgh sports for other outlets. He can be reached at cadamski@triblive.com.
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