The 2021 offseason has not been too friendly to the Pittsburgh Steelers. It could have been much worse if the Steelers ended up losing JuJu Smith-Schuster and Cam Sutton, but they found a way to keep them in Pittsburgh. Unfortnently the Steelers did end up cutting Steven Nelson in a surprise move, but is there a possibility that they could bring him back now that the Steelers have more cap room to work with?
ESPN's John Clayton believes it would be wise for the Steelers to bring Nelson back to Pittsburgh. The Eagles have had their eyes on him, but are having a hard time pulling the trigger on a longer-term deal for Nelson. There are rumors going around saying Nelson's asking price is a little more than $3 million dollars a year. If that is the case I would definitely bring him back to Pittsburgh unless there was more to the story than the media knows about between both sides...
John Clayton on Steven Nelson: “He is a good player,” Clayton said of Nelson. “Why nobody has gone for him, I don’t know. I thought maybe Kansas City would bring him back. I’m a little surprised he is still out there. I think Steve would be wise to bring back.”
If the Steelers could bring Nelson back on a lesser deal than $8 million dollars then why not try? That of course is what he was due in 2021 with the Pittsburgh Steelers. Nelson has had plenty of interest in the market, but it seems like the market doesn't want to pay him what he thinks he is worth. That does not fall on Nelson this year because the market has shrunk tremendously due to Covid-19 so the market has hurt a ton of players during the 2021 offseason.
It is apparent the Steelers do like Cam Sutton more than Steven Nelson or do they just like Sutton more because of his friendly deal? If the Steelers were to bring Nelson back to Pittsburgh he would most definitely have to earn the starting role back in Pittsburgh.
The Steelers made that clear to Nelson before they released him saying there will be a competition at the cornerback position heading into Training Camp. Nelson did not like hearing that and that could have been one of the main reasons for the fallout with the Steelers. No one truly knows what happened between Nelson and the Steelers to this point though. If Nelson is willing to come back on a friendly deal I would bring him back as the Steelers are hurting at the cornerback position.