Entering his age-33 season, new Pittsburgh Steelers cornerback Patrick Peterson is much closer to the end of his Hall of Fame career than he is to his glory days spent with the Arizona Cardinals.
Despite being at an age where players fall off significantly at the cornerback position, Peterson — ahead of his first training camp with the Steelers at Saint Vincent College in Latrobe — isn’t viewing the 2023 season as potentially his final season in the NFL.
Appearing on his podcast All Things Covered with co-host and cousin Bryant McFadden Wednesday, Peterson shot down the idea that this could be his final season, stating that he feels great physically after signing a two-year deal in free agency with the Steelers and that he likes to fulfill his obligations when it comes to his contract.
“Nah, not really Mac [McFadden]. I feel like if I let myself get to that point now while I’m getting ready for the season, then I’m not prepared and my mind is in the wrong place,” Peterson said in response to McFadden asking if this could be his final season, according to video via the All Things Covered podcast channel on YouTube. “As of right now, my body feels extremely well. Everything is clicking on all cylinders right now, so I’m not looking at it like that.
“I signed a two-year deal, and I’m a guy that always likes to fulfill my obligation. At the end of the day, it’s going to come down to the team and how I perform this year if they want me to come back or not, but my goal is to obviously finish out these two seasons and see what happens after that.”
Though he’s well on the wrong side of 30 at a rather demanding position from a speed and athleticism standpoint, Peterson showed no signs of slowing down last season with the Minnesota Vikings, recording five interceptions which then caused the Steelers to very clearly be interested in free agency.
Now in Pittsburgh, Peterson will have an interesting role in 2023. Throughout the offseason Peterson has talked about moving around quite a bit in the secondary, allowing himself and the rest of the defensive backs in Pittsburgh to give quarterbacks different looks defensively. It’s likely Peterson plays some slot cornerback and maybe even some safety reps on top of him being that boundary corner that holds down the No. 1 role in Pittsburgh — at least early on.
On top of his duties on the field with his own level of play, Peterson is being looked at as a leader in the secondary, one who will be instrumental in helping rookies Joey Porter Jr. and Cory Trice Jr. develop at the position and hopefully contribute to the Steelers in 2023 and beyond.
While Peterson did sign a two-year deal in free agency, he is spot on that the second season in Pittsburgh in 2024 will be up to the Steelers and will be based on his level of play. If Peterson isn’t what is expected in 2023, the Steelers can cut him and save nearly $7 million in cap space next year, carrying a nearly $3 million dead cap hit in the process. If Peterson hits and is what the Steelers hoped for, then a nearly $10 million cap charge is a bargain for a solid Hall of Fame cornerback like Peterson.
He seems to be in the right state of mind entering his 13th season in the NFL, and he sounds like he’s feeling great physically. We’ll see what level of play that leads to in his first season with the Black and Gold.
