The Pittsburgh Steelers signed veteran CB Cameron Sutton to a one-year contract a little over a week ago, agreeing to the league minimum with a base salary of $1.21 million for the 2024 season. Sutton was made available for Pittsburgh to pick up off the street after he was let go by the Lions after getting arrested on domestic battery charges, and still is potentially facing a suspension for violating the league’s domestic violence policy.
It remains to be seen how many games, if any, Sutton misses in 2024 due to suspension, but the veteran cornerback couldn’t have come in at a better time for Pittsburgh. The Steelers went into the offseason with a need at cornerback with Levi Wallace, James Pierre and Chandon Sullivan all slated to hit free agency. That need only increased after the Steelers cut Patrick Peterson in a cap-saving maneuver. They managed to acquire Donte Jackson in a trade with the Carolina Panthers, but still had a huge hole at slot cornerback with no legitimate name positioned to see the majority of the snaps there.
Signing Sutton gives Pittsburgh an experienced coverage defender who has proven to be a versatile chess piece during his time in Pittsburgh. While with the Steelers, Sutton frequented the slot often, being an asset there in coverage as well as in run defense. He is a willing tackler that will shoot through a ball carrier’s legs like you see in the clips below, making the stop on QB Lamar Jackson in the hole to prevent the touchdown in the first clip. In the second clip, we see Sutton come down on WR Corey Davis on the slant route while in zone coverage, wrapping up Davis as he catches the ball to prevent any run after the catch.
Sutton struggled in coverage at times last season in Detroit, but he represented himself well during his final few seasons in Pittsburgh, including his last year in 2022 when he allowed 36 receptions for 411 yards and 3 touchdowns. He broke up 8 passes and recorded 3 interceptions. He is a fairly quick cover corner that can change directions fluidly like you can see in the clip below against San Francisco, matching the receiver in coverage and sticking with him on the extended play, being in-position to break up the pass in the end zone.
Sutton does a great job competing at the catch point and works hard to be in good position on passes over the middle of the field. Check out the clips below of Sutton mirroring the receiver on his route, following WR Hollywood Brown in man coverage in the first clip to break up a pass in the end zone while staying step-for-step with WR Tyler Boyd in zone coverage in the second clip. He steps in-front of the pass as the ball arrives to pick off QB Joe Burrow for the interception.
Sutton’s versatile skill set also makes him a movable chess piece from the slot, allowing Pittsburgh to disguise coverages and have Sutton roll up to cover the backend if they choose to bring S Minkah Fitzpatrick down closer to the line of scrimmage. Sutton has experience playing in plenty of cloud coverages where he drops back to cover the backend of the defense from his nickel spot like in this clip below against the Raiders. Lining up in the slot, Sutton drops back to cover the left half of the field, seeing the ball thrown to WR Hunter Renfrow and manages to track it down, reaching out his hands in front of Renfrow to secure the interception.
Sutton is expected to miss some time during the 2024 season, although that amount of time is still unclear as of this writing. Pittsburgh will likely need to turn to one of its in-house options or platoon a couple of them together to contribute in the slot while Sutton serves his potential suspension, but once Sutton is cleared to play, it’s hard to imagine that Pittsburgh won’t plug him right into the nickel in the sub-package defense.
Sutton has the skill set, experience and versatility to man the slot cornerback job for Pittsburgh this season, allowing the Steelers to utilize his position flexibility to mix and match coverages. This gives Pittsburgh’s secondary an added boost, allowing Minkah Fitzpatrick to be more of a playmaker which this defense sorely needs. He may be coming back to the team after a release and may have a suspension to serve, but Sutton is the player that Pittsburgh needed to fill their glaring hole at slot cornerback, and he should step right into that role when he is allowed to hit the field.
