Joe Haden has spent plenty of time in the AFC North, but his time in Cleveland has clearly left an impact.

Back in April 2026, the cornerback made an appearance on the 4th And South w/ Jarvis Landry & Leonard Fournette show, talking about how welcoming the city was.

“When I got to that city, they just embraced me, open arms... I was young, rich, and living my best life. We were still losing, but they were still supporting me."

Joe Haden was the first-round pick in the 2010 NFL draft as the seventh overall pick when he was just 21. Haden spent seven years with the team. During this time, he helped the team with over 150 deflections and 29 interceptions.

"They would still show love, still be like, ‘Man, don’t worry about it, you’re the best corner in the league," Haden added.

And when he wasn't helping the Browns on the field, he was spending time exploring the city. Notably, he attended Cleveland Cavaliers games as well as Cleveland Guardians games.

However, after playing seven seasons with the Browns, he was released by them in August 2017, following which, he joined the Steelers.

Despite this, he explicitly mentioned at the time that it was a tough day and that there were no hard feelings with the team. He even came back in 2022 to sign a one-day contract before retirement and smashed a guitar before the Browns took on the Bengals in Week 8.

Haden also opened up about how he spent the $50 million on his rookie contract

While appearing on Get Yo A** Up Show With Tony the Closer, as reported by US Weekly, Haden talked about his first contract as well as being responsible with his finances.

"I signed a five-year, $50 million contract. I had about $26.6 million guaranteed," he said. "My first year, I got a $12 million signing bonus. After taxes, I only touched around $7 million."

The Browns signed Joe Haden for $50 million, which included a guarantee of $26 million. It was a five-year contract. Haden also bought cars for his brothers and a penthouse for himself.

"Looking at $12.6 million, there’s really $7 million [after taxes], now after my folks and everything, that’s, what you got in the bank? $1 million... I had to start really getting hip. I could see how people that aren’t hip, you signed at two [years] for $10 million, think you got $10 million, your a** ain’t got that."

Now, away from the field, he is focused on his family and business.

Read more at the Cleveland Browns Community!

Written by

Ankita Yadav

Edited by

Siddharth Shirwadkar