Former Steelers cornerback Joe Haden to retire after signing one-day deal with Browns
Former Pittsburgh Steelers cornerback Joe Haden is signing a one-day deal with the Browns on Wednesday. He is doing it with the intention of retiring as part of the Cleveland organization, which drafted him out of Florida with the No. 7 overall pick in the 2010 NFL Draft. ESPN’s Adam Schefter confirmed the news with Haden’s agent Drew Rosenhaus on Wednesday.
During his career in the NFL from 2010 to 2022, Haden played seven seasons with the Browns and five seasons with the Steelers. In 158 games played, he racked up 504 solo tackles, three sacks, seven forced fumbles, 29 takeaways and two touchdowns.
Hadden entered the league with a nose for the football. In his rookie season, he had the most interceptions of his career with six. In his final season, 2021, he had 38 total tackles in 12 games played with one forced fumble.
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At the start of his final season with the Steelers, Haden did not sign a contract extension, instead opting to become a free agent in 2022. He said at the time that he would have liked an extension to end his career with Pittsburgh.
During his NFL career, Haden earned three Pro Bowl nominations (2013, 2014, 2019) and one second-team All-Pro selection (2013).
Haden enters Florida Athletic Hall of Fame
Joe Haden played football at UF from 2007 to 2009 and started all 40 games he played in. He became the first true freshman to start at cornerback in the season opener in 2007 and was selected to the Freshman All-American First Team (CollegeFootballNews.com), the SEC All-Freshman Team and was an Honorable Mention (Sporting News) that year.
A member of the 2008 BCS National Championship team, he took home Consensus All-American honors. He also earned Defensive MVP by Sporting News in 2009.
Haden finished his career with the Gators with 218 total tackles, eight interceptions, and 3.5 sacks. His 34 pass breakups rank fifth all-time for Florida.
The Gators are inducting Haden into the UF Athletic Hall of Fame on Oct. 7.