It looks like a serviceable defender from the 2009 championship is making his return to Pittsburgh. You guessed it: Mark Eaton is back.
Not to mention the Steelers are bringing CB William Gay back from Arizona in a bizarro, opposite-day type move. Gay left last year as a free agent and was released by Arizona one season later. Kevin Colbert saw a guy he's familiar with and inked him to a three-year contract. There are a few things you could piece together if you read between the lines here.
First and foremost, management doesn't feel good about the depth on the team at CB. Neither do you or I. Gay is a reasonably-accomplished player; hardly a superstar but a serviceable defender. You know what you're getting, and what you're getting is someone who will sometimes give up a big play, sometimes make a huge game-ending interception. He'll do fine as a #2-3 CB.
Ideally, you slot Gay in as the nickelback next year with Taylor and Lewis as the "starters." But if you want to read into this signing a little more, perhaps the team is preparing for Lewis to chase a big payday that the Steelers won't be able to match. Colbert would still love to have Keenan Lewis on the team, make no mistake. But Gay might be something of an insurance policy in case he walks.
Supporting that theory is the fact that it's a three-year contract. That probably means the team has plans for him, and you don't usually plan too far ahead for a veteran who's only going to play special teams. On the other hand, perhaps it's a back-loaded contract so they can cut him and save money in a couple years.
In any case, I feel a bit better about the defense now than I did a week ago. Even if Lewis leaves, that leave Taylor and Gay as your starters and Cortez Allen or Curtis Brown (there are some really boring last names among our DBs) as the nickel and dime backs. Having seen those two improve their play last season, I think we can all feel a little more confident in the pass defense. And if Keenan Lewis stays in Pittsburgh, we get to look forward to some actual depth at the position.
