Pittsburgh Steelers cornerback Mike Hilton now has a new agent and it’s none other than Drew Rosenhaus. Hilton broke the news Monday on his Instagram account.
Hilton, a former undrafted free agent out of Mississippi, was previously scheduled to be an exclusive rights free agent in 2018 but ultimately signed his one-year tender issued him by the Steelers well prior to the start of the league year. Last season, Hilton played extensively as the Steelers nickel cornerback after winning the job during the offseason. He registered 54 total tackles, four sacks, two interceptions, and a forced fumble during the season that included him recording three sacks in Week 16 against the Houston Texans.
While Hilton is now under contract with the Steelers through the 2018 season and scheduled to be a restricted free agent next year at this time, it’s probably not totally out of the question that the team might try to sign him to a contract extension later this summer. With that said, only a few times in the history of the franchise have the Steelers signed players wearing exclusive rights tenders to long-term contracts with the last one being current tackle Alejandro Villanueva last July.
Realistically, the Steelers are likely to let Hilton play out his 2018 season and then restricted tender him during the offseason at potentially a second-round level, assuming his play warrants it. From that point forward, the Steelers could use the rest of the 2019 offseason to attempt to sign Hilton to a long-term contract extension.
As for Rosenhaus, his company, Rosenhaus Sports Representation, currently represents several Steelers players and that list includes wide receiver Antonio Brown and cornerback Joe Haden, just to name a few, and he certainly knows how to get deals done.
