The Pittsburgh Steelers brought back CB Cameron Sutton this offseason, confident he can step back into their defense. He played for them over a six-year period before leaving in free agency in 2023, so it’s hardly surprising. Now that he is back, his teammates old and new are recognizing the value he brings through his experience.
That includes S Damontae Kazee, who played with Sutton in 2022, his first year here before Sutton left for Detroit. Kazee missed a chunk of that year due to injury, but now they will likely be competing with Sutton for playing time. Neither is a starting safety or outside cornerback, so they will share slot duties, primarily. But both of them have a well-rounded skill set that Kazee knows will come in handy.
“It’s gonna help in the long run, just knowing that everybody could do everything around here, a guy like Cam”, Kazee said, via the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. “Cam could play slot, safety. Cam knows this whole defense. It’ll be good for everybody just to have backups that do everything, too”.
A third-round pick in 2017 out of Tennessee, Cameron Sutton played over 3,000 defensive snaps for the Steelers. The majority of those came in his final two seasons in 2021-22 as a full-time starter, accounting for 2,020 snaps.
In total, Sutton started 39 out of 84 games over those six years. He recorded 168 tackles, including eight for loss, with two sacks, 38 passes defensed, and eight interceptions. In his one year with the Lions, he seemed miscast, struggling accordingly with a high burn rate.
But the Steelers are not bringing him back to be a shutdown outside cornerback. They just want him to fit in anywhere they need him, and for now, they primarily need him in the slot. Sutton has played in the slot a lot before, his primary role his first four seasons, so that’s familiar territory.
And the Steelers know Sutton can also play outside if they need him to. And they know that he can roll back and play safety as well. Kazee is a slot-capable safety as well, and several other defensive backs can move around as needed.
The Steelers overhauled their secondary quite a bit from last season, parting with Patrick Peterson, James Pierre, Levi Wallace, Chandon Sullivan, and Keanu Neal. They have brought in DeShon Elliott, Ryan Watts, Beanie Bishop Jr., and the returning Cameron Sutton to fill the gaps.
Of that group, Elliott and Sutton project as starters, the others being low-pedigreed rookies who must prove themselves. They also have second-year CBs Cory Trice Jr. and Darius Rush trying to make a push into the limelight. Both Rush and Watts are capable of moving around, but where they really need to flash is on special teams.
Sutton has played extensively on special teams in the past, but it’s not clear how much will be asked of him this year. Even his final year here, he logged over 100 snaps on special teams, so I’m sure he hasn’t forgotten. That’s just another facet of his versatility he needs to make himself an asset to this team. Especially given that he is likely looking at a suspension.
