JUNE 7: Sutton will indeed come back to Pittsburgh for the league minimum. His $1.21MM base salary matches Russell Wilson‘s, though KPRC2’s Aaron Wilson notes the veteran cornerback will count $985K against the Steelers’ cap. Unlike Wilson, the Steelers did not guarantee Sutton any money, per OverTheCap.
JUNE 5: The Steelers already met with Cameron Sutton in the wake of his Lions release. The parties are huddling up again Wednesday, and a reunion will come to pass. Sutton is expected to rejoin the Steelers, according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s Gerry Dulac.
A one-year contract worth the veteran minimum is the anticipated outcome here, Dulac adds. This would be a major step back for a player who was tied to an $11MM-per-year deal entering the offseason, but a domestic violence arrest brought a quick end to Sutton’s Detroit tenure. Sutton’s Pittsburgh return is indeed a go, with NFL.com’s Tom Pelissero confirming the sides have another deal in place.
A Steelers draft choice who played six seasons with the team, Sutton spent one season with the Lions. Several weeks after Detroit designated the veteran starter as a post-June 1 cut, Pittsburgh will sign off on another agreement. The initial Steelers-Sutton meeting occurred back in April, and although a suspension is expected in connection with Sutton’s arrest on a domestic battery by strangulation charge, the Mike Tomlin-Omar Khan tandem is comfortable greenlighting a reunion.
An early-March arrest warrant went out for Sutton, but the seven-year veteran did not turn himself in for more than three weeks. Sutton, 29, had been seen at the Lions’ facility between the warrant emerging and his eventual arrest. The Lions moved on from Sutton’s three-year, $33MM deal a day after the report of the warrant surfaced.
Police responded to a call pertaining to an alleged domestic incident in Lutz, Florida. Sutton fled the scene after this alleged battery; evidence of wounds was present on the woman’s body. Sutton owns a home in Pinellas County, Florida. It is not known if Sutton will be suspended this season, but that seems likely. Under the NFL’s personal conduct policy, players do not need to be convicted of crimes to receive NFL bans.
This certainly produces an interesting addition for the Steelers, who used Sutton as their No. 1 corner for a stretch earlier this decade. Sutton played well on the two-year, $9MM deal he signed in 2021, leading to the Lions’ pricier commitment last year. Sutton will have a chance to carve out a role in a CB contingent headed by 2023 second-round pick Joey Porter Jr. and recent trade acquisition Donte Jackson. Sutton started 39 games for the Steelers from 2017-22; 31 of those starts came between the 2021 and ’22 seasons.
The Steelers were believed to be interested in a third Sutton contract in 2023, but the team’s offer did not approach where the Lions went in free agency. Pittsburgh instead opted for a cheaper deal with Patrick Peterson, whom the team released earlier this offseason, and the Porter pick at No. 32 overall. Another Peterson deal had not been ruled out previously, but this Sutton signing would stand to reduce the chances the likely Hall of Famer returns.
Sutton is coming off a down season in Detroit. Pro Football Focus ranked the 5-foot-11 cover man 104th (out of 127 regulars) at the position in 2023, and the Lions have gone through with an overhaul at the position. Under Tomlin and DC Teryl Austin in 2022, however, Sutton finished in the top five (among corners) in passer rating allowed as the closest defender, per Next Gen Stats; he ended that season with a career-high 15 passes defensed. The Steelers will see if Sutton can rebound back in their system.
How the Steelers configure their reshaped CB group will be interesting. Although Sutton has experience in the slot, he has primarily been a boundary defender in recent years. The Steelers waited until Round 6 (Ryan Watts) to draft a corner this year. Via offset language, this agreement stands to cut into the dead money the Lions will see over the next two offseasons. Detroit took on $8.72MM in Sutton dead money this offseason.
One of the genuine good guys in our game today. Heck, I’d let him dare my daughter
Dare her to do what?
YES DARE HIM TO DO TO YOUR DAUGHTER WHAT A PERVERT WOULD DO….GLAD YOU WASNT MY PARENT
He meant DATE obviously. Sarcastically. Cmon.. common sense.
This is the Pro Football Rumors comment section sir, you will not locate any form of common sense here.
Upvote the above comment if you enjoy having the inmates run the asylum 🙂
He still said dare which means date….read first. He said he’d let a pervert date his daughter. Cmon…use common sense
Maybe he meant TRUTH or DARE.
Way to reward a wife beater…this is what’s wrong with the NFL, overlooking poor quality traits for guys who should be in prison!
I mean, this is the same team that kept Roethlisberger around.
Not liking this as a Steelers fan. Just not a guy I’d want on the team. I’m sure the team has done its own investigation but as a fan there is nothing that will sway me from what he’s been charged with
Agree. Then, add a big suspension and why do this?
They lost Sutton, Mike Hilton and didn’t resign Joe Haden a couple years ago and the idea of having Minkah playing a monster back as Troy did went south, as well
I get that they’re trying to retool the secondary with Porter and are hoping Trice has recovered nicely, but between this and the guy who came over from Carolina, you just wonder why they’re sitting on cap space money
I’m sure they’ll plug Sutton into the slot because he sure was toast in a number of games for the Lions on deep routes last season
Lots of scum bags in the AFC North these days.
It’s the entire NFL
I thought the Rooney family was above reproach……I guess not?
Low character man.
Not a fan of this move on multiple levels.
If Sutton could strangle the guy who has designed some of those ugly alternate jerseys it wouldn’t be so bad.
I’m not either but really, that comes down to what he can do for this defense. In that regard, I just don’t think he’s the answer
There’s been a lot of reaction to the signing related to Sutton’s recent character issues. Yeah, as the father of two girls, sure, it bothers me. But this idea that the Rooneys demand wholesome, God-fearing, standup guys who conduct themselves as gentleman off the field is about as old as dirt. It’s exhausting to continually hear or read it. One could easily provide a laundry list of players who really pushed the envelope where off-field incidents are concerned
Because when it gets down to it, the Rooneys are like every other owner. They want guys they think give them the best chance of winning
What kind of message does this send to the fans of the Steelers and especially the female fans? The NFL is famous for numerous domestic violence issues involving its players and allowing them to continue playing and yet the NFL openly criticizes a player(s) who voice their 1st Amendment beliefs, especially if it doesn’t fit the NFL’s WOKE narrative.
I think you have it backwards. The fans sent a message to the NFL years ago that they are sport junkies with an uncontrollable addiction. The fans have indicated that they will continue to support the NFL no matter how many cheaters, crooks, perverts, abusers or criminals are part of the landscape. A few fans have become so disgusted that they were able to break their addiction but the vast majority of fans will just continue to tolerate the NFLs hypocrisy because THE SHOW MUST GO ON.
Evidently character means 0. But every team does it so not one team has more integrity than any of the others.
“The Steeler Way”.
Seriously, F this guy.
Argue whatever you want about the DV, due process, etc. He, FOR SURE, went on the lamb.
Well the old Rooneys are gone. Everything changes some for the good, some for the bad. Whatever happened to forgive and forget? I’m not a big fan of the signing, but the NFL, and sports is business. Now the country is changing. You have a convicted felon among other things, running for president. Not a good sign of our countries direction.
I think his addition is a good one.
Yay, another woman beater gets to play in the NFL, yet Trevor Bauer has to play baseball in Mexico because he had consensual rough sex with some golddigger. In my 60+ years I have never found a reason to hit a woman for anything. But I guess I’m not a punka*s b***h. Big tough guy hitting women. Do you kick kids and dogs too. What a loser. If Mike Tomlin signed off on this I just lost any respect I had for him.