The Cleveland Browns let Joe Haden become a free agent on Wednesday. How much does the cornerback have left?
The Kansas City Chiefs are among the teams reportedly interested in free agent cornerback Joe Haden, the newest addition to the free agent market thanks to a recent release by the Cleveland Browns. Despite being one of the best defenders in recent franchise history, the Browns have seen a dip in production and an escalation in pay and ultimately decided to cut ties with Haden, giving the 28-year-old his first chance to play away from northern Ohio.
The Chiefs, Pittsburgh Steelers and New Orleans Saints have all been tied to Haden. Because we wanted to find out more about his potential and why the Browns let him go, we recently asked a few questions of editor Thomas Moore of Dawg Pound Daily. Check out what he has to say about Haden’s present and future.
If the Browns have the cap space to absorb Haden’s deal, then why not keep him around for leadership and at least another productive corner, even if he’s not what he once was.
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It is not really about the money, although ultimately everything is about money. Haden is clearly not worth $11 million a year, which is what the Browns would have owed him had they kept him on the roster this year. The team reportedly asked Haden to restructure his deal, which is understandable, and Haden declined, which is his right. It could be a case of ripping the band-aid off all at once. His play has declined to the point where he may have been riding the bench more often than not this year, so rather than deal with the weekly issue of “why isn’t Joe playing,” they decided to just cut ties with him after finding that no one in the league is willing to pay Haden the $11 million owed to him on his current contract.
If the Browns have the cap space to absorb Haden’s deal, then why not keep him around for leadership and at least another productive corner, even if he’s not what he once was.
He has. Injuries have really hurt him the past two seasons to the point that he had off-season surgery after the 2015 and 2016 season. He is supposedly healthy this year, but injuries take their toll on players, and as a cornerback once your legs start to go it is all downhill from there. Too often Haden has been caught looking into the backfield trying to anticipate the play and he just doesn’t have the speed to recover anymore when he does that.
How do you think Haden would fare with a change of scenery?
Probably about the same as he would if he stayed in Cleveland. This isn’t a case where a player is clashing with the coaching staff or management, but rather one of a player’s production not matching his salary . If he had been willing to restructure his deal, or if he was only owed something like $5 million this year, he would still be in Cleveland. His production is going to be the same no matter where he plays, so this may be a case of buyer beware when it comes to his new team.
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