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The Pittsburgh Steelers have officially re-signed five-year veteran cornerback Ahkello Witherspoon to a two-year, $8 million dollar contract that will make him a key part of the Steelers secondary. With veteran cornerback Joe Haden no longer being a part of the Steelers organization as of now, it is probably safe to assume that Witherspoon will be taking over one of the starting roles left behind in Haden’s absence, even with the signing of Levi Wallace — or at least get the opportunity to do so.
Witherspoon proved his worth last season when on the field, there is no denying that. Although it might have taken longer than expected, Witherspoon appeared in just 12 games with the black and gold (starting in 9 of them) where he recorded 3 interceptions. The 27 year old defensive back struggled to see much of the field during his first few months in Pittsburgh due to the fact that Witherspoon had not been fully engrossed in the Steelers defensive playbook quite yet, as he was acquired right at the beginning of the 2021 season. He was acquired to help bolster a very depleted Steelers secondary, and he did just that. Enough to garner him a brand new contract.
That being said, Witherspoon will now be fully engrossed in the Steelers defensive playbook from day one of minicamp, and will not be playing catch up for the majority of the season — a completely different situation from what he had back in 2021. This is something Head Coach Mike Tomlin does not take for granted going into 2022.
Believe it or not, that same attitude that Tomlin has expressed is one of the reasons Witherspoon decided to re-sign with the Steelers. Yes, Pittsburgh was probably the best destination as far as playing time goes, and other than developing personal relationships with some of his new teammates, Witherspoon has been vocal about how Coach Tomlin being the head coach had a significant impact on where he signed his next contract.
The Steelers clearly made it very known that they were going into the off-season looking to spend some money and they did just that. The front office used some of that cap space to help bolster their defensive back room and did so with the signing of Witherspoon and Wallace. The AFC as a whole has gotten significantly better in just this past month of March with many top tier quarterbacks entering the conference and the Steelers continue to counter those transactions with one on the defensive side of the football, where championships are won.
Do you think the Steelers have “kept up” with the rest of the AFC with their off-season additions? Comment below!
#SteelerNation
Support SteelerNation by clicking here to read the story..
Witherspoon proved his worth last season when on the field, there is no denying that. Although it might have taken longer than expected, Witherspoon appeared in just 12 games with the black and gold (starting in 9 of them) where he recorded 3 interceptions. The 27 year old defensive back struggled to see much of the field during his first few months in Pittsburgh due to the fact that Witherspoon had not been fully engrossed in the Steelers defensive playbook quite yet, as he was acquired right at the beginning of the 2021 season. He was acquired to help bolster a very depleted Steelers secondary, and he did just that. Enough to garner him a brand new contract.
That being said, Witherspoon will now be fully engrossed in the Steelers defensive playbook from day one of minicamp, and will not be playing catch up for the majority of the season — a completely different situation from what he had back in 2021. This is something Head Coach Mike Tomlin does not take for granted going into 2022.
Believe it or not, that same attitude that Tomlin has expressed is one of the reasons Witherspoon decided to re-sign with the Steelers. Yes, Pittsburgh was probably the best destination as far as playing time goes, and other than developing personal relationships with some of his new teammates, Witherspoon has been vocal about how Coach Tomlin being the head coach had a significant impact on where he signed his next contract.
The Steelers clearly made it very known that they were going into the off-season looking to spend some money and they did just that. The front office used some of that cap space to help bolster their defensive back room and did so with the signing of Witherspoon and Wallace. The AFC as a whole has gotten significantly better in just this past month of March with many top tier quarterbacks entering the conference and the Steelers continue to counter those transactions with one on the defensive side of the football, where championships are won.
Do you think the Steelers have “kept up” with the rest of the AFC with their off-season additions? Comment below!
#SteelerNation
Support SteelerNation by clicking here to read the story..
