Steelers cornerback Cameron Sutton, who is under club control through 2022, recently indicated that he does not expect to sign a new contract before the 2023 league year. Although a report from earlier this month confirmed that no extension talks had taken place between player and team, Gerry Dulac of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette believes that a new deal for Sutton remains “a very real possibility.”
Dulac does not say whether contract discussions have commenced, so it is difficult to handicap the likelihood of an agreement at this point. Still, newly-promoted GM Omar Khan has extended three contract-year players — Minkah Fitzpatrick, Chris Boswell, and Diontae Johnson — in recent weeks, and a Sutton extension would certainly not be as costly as the Fitzpatrick and Johnson deals. As such, there should still be time to get something done before the start of the regular season on September 11.
Sutton, 27, was selected by the Steelers in the third round of the 2017 draft. He worked as a rotational player throughout his first three years in the league, finally exceeding 50% of the team’s defensive snaps in the fourth and final year of his rookie deal in 2020. His performance that season was enough to land him a two-year, $9MM contract last March, and in the 2021 campaign, he started all 16 games in which he appeared and logged 99% of Pittsburgh’s defensive snaps.
That increased playing time exposed some weaknesses in Sutton’s game. He allowed a 104.9 passer rating as the closest defender and 8.6 yards per target — numbers well north of his 2019 and ’20 marks — and graded outside Pro Football Focus’ top-75 at the position (PFF considered Sutton a top-30 corner in 2020).
Nonetheless, the Tennessee product is in line for another significant role in 2022. The expectation is that he will line up on the boundaries in base sets and then move to the slot in sub-packages, meaning that he will rarely leave the field.
Sutton, Levi Wallace, and Ahkello Witherspoon are the top three players on the Steelers’ CB depth chart, and none of them are playing on contracts with an AAV in excess of $5MM. Pittsburgh presently has just shy of $10MM in cap space, so there is room for a Sutton extension, both from a salary cap standpoint and when considering the team’s other commitments to the cornerback position.
Sutton’s an interesting case. I feel like I can make good arguments both for and against an extension for him. Omar Khan had already been aggressive with the extensions, which is a good thing.
I agree which is why I think another short extension is the way to go. Maybe 2yr, 15-16MM total. Not horribly expensive or long that the Steelers are tied to him if he bombs, but enough to defer a high CB draft pick another year. Going to need those picks for OL and both LB spots
Kind of interesting that the team still has cap space, that there are still offensive linemen out there, and the discussion you hear about is extensions
The off season was remarkable, as they addressed areas that were glowingly deficient last year. But after giving Chuks way too much leeway in his new contract, last year’s suspect draft and this off season’s signings, is the idea that they are just stubbornly going to go with what they have and not look for help? If so, does it matter who plays QB here?
Who is still out there? Tretter retired, Fisher was awful last year and has apparently been turning teams down, Peters is 40 and injury prone, and Wynn, Leatherwood, and Dillard will not only cost you a pick, but they are all making 1st round money. There is nothing out there.
Lars, whether on Twitter or other sources, a large list of names have been published, most containing the names you make note of
I guess I’ll just parrot what many say in reply to thoughts like the one you put forth here: when the line is this bad…and it truly is *that* bad…they could call DeCastro back and it would be an immediate upgrade
And it doesn’t have to be a signing, Lars. As teams make decisions to whittle down their rosters, I’d bet there are/will be a lot of good linemen available
I hope so. And no argument about the Steelers line, it’s awful. They gotta pray Daniels turns it around as they are counting on him.