The Pittsburgh Steelers lost several key players this season. Mike Hilton, Bud Dupree, Maurkice Pouncey, Steven Nelson. Some big body blows to the team. One player they were able to retain, however, is Cam Sutton. Sutton says that his goal all along was to stay in black and gold.
He spoke to reporters Wednesday about his free agency process and decision to return.
“Going into the year, there was never a time period not talking about me moving forward with Pittsburgh,” Sutton said via Zoom. “Obviously this has been home to me and my family, you know, in the past, obviously through our rookie deal through the years.”
Sutton and the Steelers agreed upon a two-year deal worth $9 million. The deal also included voidable years to spread out the cap hit and reduce his cap charge to get the team through a difficult offseason. While money talks and ultimately, he’s back with Pittsburgh because the money was right, he didn’t want to go anywhere else.
“Just that sense of a family. That sense of all the work that lead up to these moments, putting in throughout the years. And I received just maximize opportunities that were presented to myself.”
Sutton worked his way up the Steelers’ depth chart and logged significant playing time each of the last two seasons, logging over 800 defensive snaps and making six starts in 2020. His flexibility was a huge benefit to the defense as was his improved physicality and tackling. That was evident by the three forced fumbles he notched this past year. In fact, he became the first Steelers’ DB to record a forced fumble in three-straight games since Lee Flowers in 2000.
Now, he’ll become a full-time starter for the first-time in his career. If he plays well, he’ll stand the chance to make a lot more money a few years from now. Sutton’s hoping to build on what he’s already done in Pittsburgh.
“I’m just pushing into that role, obviously extending the opportunities that I’ve had. Hopefully that’s continues to lead to everything that I want to be and everything we want it to be for his organization.”
