William Gay signs with Pittsburgh Steelers

Ronald Martinez

After spending one season with the Arizona Cardinals, William Gay is back with the Pittsburgh Steelers.

William Gay is back where he started his career. Just days after being released by the Arizona Cardinals, Gay signed with the Pittsburgh Steelers, according to Adam Schefter -- the same team that drafted him in 2007.

Gay was released by Arizona on Friday, after just one season in the desert. Gay signed a two-year deal with the Cardinals last March, but was released days ago, saving the Cardinals more than $3 million in cap space.

Behind the Steel Curtain | Bringing back Gay fits with past

Gay played poorly with the Cardinals as well, grading out as one of the worst free agent cornerbacks per Pro Football Focus. Gay started opposite Patrick Peterson and simply was picked apart by opposing quarterbacks.

As a member of the Steelers, Gay went to two Super Bowls, and was apart of Pittsburgh's Super Bowl XLIII championship team, when the Steelers defeated the Cardinals. While with the Steelers between 2007-11, Gay appeared in 80 games, but only started 37 of them. It seems likely that the Steelers will use Gay in nickel and dime packages, rather than starting him like Arizona did.

Pittsburgh entered the offseason with major cap problems. Last week, the Steelers took steps to alleviate their cap problems, as Ben Roethlisberger, Antonio Brown and Lawrence Timmons all agreed to restructure their contracts, giving Pittsburgh more cap space to work with in 2013. Pittsburgh's moves last week helped make smaller signings, such as Gay, easier to accomplish.

Details of Gay's new contract with the Steelers are currently unknown.