The Steelers were coming off a Super Bowl appearance after the 2010 season and boasted the best defense in the NFL. But a few months after they were carved up by Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers in Super Bowl XLV, general manager Kevin Colbert and head coach Mike Tomlin wanted to remake their secondary.
In the 2011 draft, the Steelers spent two of their first four picks on cornerbacks. Curtis Brown was selected in the third round and Cortez Allen in the fourth.
Brown never started a game and was cut after three seasons. Allen started 18 games over his five seasons before he was released last week, 20 months after signing a contract that paid him more than $6 million per season.