Though there has not been any official word yet, it appears that the Pittsburgh Steelers have re-signed cornerback William Gay, originally drafted by the Steelers in the fifth round of the 2007 draft. Gay signed a two year contract with the Arizona Cardinals last season, but was released just a few days ago as a salary cap casualty of the Cardinals.
Thanks to some snooping courtesy of Steelers Depot, Gay’s Twitter account provides some clues that ultimately lead back to Pittsburgh. Gay Tweeted earlier today that he is glad that he did not sell his condo in Pittsburgh. In addition, he changed his location to “Somewhere in da Burgh”. His former, and perhaps current, teammate, cornerback Ike Taylor also responded to the Tweet.
It is known that Gay remained in close contact with many of his former teammates, having played with many of them—such as Taylor—for five seasons before spending 2012 in Arizona. Gay continued to train in Florida with Tom Shaw along with Taylor and other teammate during the offseason to stay in shape.
Arizona’s trash may prove to be Pittsburgh’s treasure, particularly if they fail to re-sign unrestricted free agent Keenan Lewis. Lewis is expected to command a fairly lucrative contract after leading the league in passes defensed in 2012, despite not recording an interception.
In 2011, Gay was the starter at cornerback alongside Taylor, but moved to the slot corner position when the team went to their nickel package, with Lewis playing on the outside opposite Taylor.
Lewis assumed the starting role in 2012, while Cortez Allen did a commendable job locking up the nickel role. It would seem unlikely that Gay would be given a role above Lewis or Allen, but would likely allow the team to play more dime packages with six defensive backs, especially since Gay is a strong tackler in run support as well.
Should the Steelers be unable to re-sign Lewis, however, Gay would probably become the nickel corner with Allen starting. All of this, of course, is still waiting on official word from the team.
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