Former Pittsburgh Steelers cornerback, Joe Haden knew he could still play last season, but took to the I Am Athlete podcast this week to explain exactly why he didn't.
Haden, who admitted to staying in shape early in 2022 waiting for an opportunity, discussed the factors that led to his decision to step away from the game with hosts and NFL veterans Brandon Marshall, Adam "Pacman" Jones, LeSean McCoy, and DeSean Jackson:
"I didn't plan on retiring. I wanted to do one more year, but the money wasn't right," he said. "It wasn't worth it. They were offering me one and a half to two million. I probably could've gone to probably eight teams for that, but it didn't make sense. Moving the family, I've got my kids in school now."
The last Steelers cornerback to make a Pro Bowl appearance after the 2019 season with five interceptions, one forced fumble, and 65 total tackles in the only full 16 games season he played in Pittsburgh, had a number in his head, and with teams not wanting to match it, he decided it was time to move on.
"They're not giving me what I thought I was worth," he said of offers he received to play. "If I couldn't get $5 million a year, then I'm not playing ball anymore."
Former Steelers CB on Retirement
While Haden may have had enough gas left in the tank to tack on one final year after playing in one of the least productive seasons of his pro career in 2021, he seems to have made the right decision for himself and even $5 million won't bring him back now:
"1,000%," Haden said with respect to a question of whether he was able to get everything he wanted out of the game of football. "I was able to make a lot of money. [Laughs from the group] I saw a lot of my friends retire. I was in it for 12 years, you see dudes leaving and not being able to have that time to chill and realize what you've done. Then, have that time with their families to do other things they love."
He's had a lot of that time now to spend with his young family while also currently working with networks like Fox and Amazon to try and do some more media work in a podcast, and/or studio role. He has already done some guest work for NFL Network too.
He's happy to be relatively healthy suffering two concussions and needing just one ankle surgery and sports hernia surgery during his career.
In addition to his media work, Haden said he dabbled in real estate, and while he no longer has a brick-and-mortar show store in Cleveland, his relationships have allowed him to successfully become a part owner of Stock-X.
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