The Pittsburgh Steelers committed themselves to improving the defense last season by doing a number of things that they had never done before (at least under Kevin Colbert) in order to acquire three talents at key positions that stood out for one of the best and most improved defenses of the 2019 season.
The first player that they brought in was cornerback Steven Nelson, who signed the biggest contract by an outside unrestricted free agent in team history at three years and $25.5 million. It’s the most both in total and per-year, and it was the first time the team had ever agreed in principle to a contract with an outside player during the three-day ‘tampering window’ prior to the official start of the new league year.