For all those Pittsburgh Steelers fans who claim the Steelers never make a splash in free agency, we give you Steven Nelson. Pittsburgh acted fast and brought in starting cornerback Steven Nelson and signed him away from the Kansas City Chiefs just a day into free agency. Nelson had 52 starts for the Chiefs over four seasons and should be penciled in as the starting outside cornerback opposite Joe Haden from the jump.
Here are three ways this move impacts the Steelers roster as well as the rest of the offseason.
Cornerback no longer a top draft priority
If you are an NFL draft pundit, you have probably been plugging names like Byron Murphy or Deandre Bakcr into that first-round spot for Pittsburgh. At this point it is hard to see the Steelers using a day one or day two pick on a cornerback. The addition of Nelson minimizes the three deep at cornerback with Mike Hilton in the slot and Cam Sutton showed enough promise he is fine at the fourth cornerback.
The beginning of the end for Artie Burns
No, we aren’t predicting the Steelers release Burns. However, this almost certainly means the team won’t exercise his fifth-year option by the May 2 deadline. And considering the rest of the players on the roster, could find himself relegated to mostly special teams duty. The team wants to see Burns rebound but any personal growth will have to happen before the start of the regular season because once it gets going Pittsburgh can’t risk putting him on the field if he isn’t ready.
Leaves Coty Sensabaugh in limbo
Last season, cornerback Cory Sensabaugh went from healthy scratch to starter in just a few short weeks. This really illustrated just how thin Pittsburgh was at cornerback. But Sensabaugh didn’t play terribly and earned an opportunity to win that starting spot again. But the addition of Nelson along with Sensabaugh being a free agent complicates things a great deal. The Steelers would love to have Sensabaugh back but his 2018 film could earn him more money elsewhere similar to what L.J. Fort did.
