Cornerback Ike Taylor has agreed to a four-year deal to return to the Steelers, Adam Schefter reports. The financial terms of the deal aren’t yet clear.
Pittsburgh reached agreement with veteran cornerback Ike Taylor on a four-year deal.
This is great news for the Steelers, who badly needed a stable presence at cornerback. It was already a weak enough position, with Bryant McFadden and several other cornerbacks being abused by opposing offenses at various points last year.
Re-signing Taylor not only helps the Steelers from the perspective of keeping their talent level high, it gives them continuity. I shudder to think what things might have been like if Taylor had departed and the Steelers had had to sign some new starting corner to put in the defense right away.
Hopefully, new draft picks Curtis Brown and Cortez Allen will make some strides this season, and one of them will be ready to step in alongside Taylor in 2012. In the meantime, though, at least the Steelers have Taylor back now, and their biggest offseason issue has been resolved.
I wouldn’t expect the Steelers to be wildly active in free agency now that this signing is done.
Due to the terms surrounding the end of the NFL Lockout, Taylor cannot report to camp until August 4, the Post-Gazette reports. The signing should be made official on Friday.
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