Steven Nelson lands 3-year contract with Pittsburgh Steelers

Former Kansas City Chiefs cornerback Steven Nelson has found his new home with the Pittsburgh Steelers in free agency.

The Pittsburgh Steelers have signed former Kansas City Chiefs cornerback Steven Nelson to a three-year contract in free agency, per reports on Tuesday. The deal will become official when the new league year begins on Wednesday. Nelson is reportedly going to make upwards of $25.5 million over the course of three years.

Nelson entered the NFL with the Chiefs as the team’s third-round pick in the 2015 NFL Draft. Nelson played a backup role in his first season but assumed a starting role opposite Marcus Peters in his second season and never looked back. Unfortunately, an injury shorted his third season in the league but he came back strong in the second half of 2017 and put up his best season yet in 2018..

Nelson was a revelation for the Chiefs this season for a secondary that was largely in disarray. Nelson was the most targeted cornerback in all of football and put up great numbers despite being hounded by teams trying to keep up with the potent Chiefs offense. Nelson finished the year with the 68 total tackles and the first 4 interceptions of his NFL career.

The Chiefs must now officially replace Nelson, although it was widely expected that Nelson would depart in free agency. The Chiefs have Kendall Fuller already in house and Charvarius Ward is a promising prospect who came on strong late in the year. Tremon Smith was last year’s sixth-round choice, and the Chiefs did just sign Tyrann Mathieu, who can play slot corner and safety.

Nelson should start as an outside corner for the Steelers across from Joe Haden.