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It came as something of a surprise when the Pittsburgh Steelers chose to release cornerback Steven Nelson back in late April. From a business standpoint, the move made lots of sense. At the time the Steelers were strapped for cash and the release freed up more than $8 million in salary-cap space.
From a game perspective, the move hurt. Nelson was arguably the team’s most consistent cornerback the last two seasons and while his 67.1 score by Pro Football Focus in 2020 was hardly elite, his ability to make plays and keep offenses honest was a big part of the team’s success.
Having said all this, it is now mid-July and Nelson still doesn’t have a team. Is this because he can’t play? Or maybe he wants too much money? Both could be true. But with only two weeks to training camp, it feels like this could be a case of Nelson just wanting to take the summer off without the responsibilities of OTAs or minicamps. We see this with veterans all the time.
If this is the case, what is the waiting for? I think it would make sense for him to just be biding his time until the end of training camp to re-join the Steelers at a lower salary. This would really solidify the secondary and give the Steelers far more freedom in trying to replace Mike Hilton with guys already on the roster.
What do you think? Could Nelson come back and would you want him? Let us know in the comments.
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