Cameron Sutton is the latest former Pittsburgh Steelers player Mike Tomlin has brought back. After signing with the Detroit Lions in free agency last offseason, he is back in the Black and Gold. He is back where he started his career, albeit in very different circumstances.
Right now, he’s just trying to hold onto a career after running into off-field issues, to put it mildly. But Sutton is still a player who can be an asset in the Steelers’ defense, and that’s how The Athletic reporter Mark Kaboly views it.
“I see no downside in it whatsoever.”, he told Joe Starkey on 93.7 The Fan earlier this week. “If you’re looking for something to complain about with the Cam Sutton signing, then you hate your life. First of all, it’s minimum money. He’s probably making the league minimum”.
As reported yesterday, Sutton did indeed sign with the Steelers to play for the minimum. He couldn’t have possibly expected anything different, under the circumstances. He is alleged to have, among other things, choked, punched, and bit his long-term girlfriend, the mother of his children. Earlier in the offseason, the Lions released him following his arrest, ultimately charged with a misdemeanor. But he can play football. And if he can’t, it doesn’t matter, according to Kaboly.
“He can play inside and outside. Okay, if he stinks, cut him. Who cares? No skin off your teeth whatsoever”, he said. He added that he believes Sutton is still “a very good ball player” and suggested he may not have fit what the Lions asked of him last year. “But, again, this is a situation where there’s no downside. Like I said, if he stinks, cut him, move on”.
Kaboly also believes he’s better outside depth than “what you have right now” with Cory Trice Jr. and Darius Rush “So I see no downside at all in it”. But later in the week he did add a little more context to his thoughts on Sutton on the Poni and Mueller Show.
“If you can separate that with what he provides on the field, I think he’s a no-brainer signing”, Kaboly said days after the Steelers signed Sutton, rather than in the immediate aftermath. “If you take away what happened off the field and you’re okay with that, you trust their due diligence”.
“I understand if people don’t like the signing either because of the incident that he had a couple months ago”, he added.
Indeed, the Steelers’ decision to sign Cameron Sutton has been polarizing, though not radically so. He is not a high-profile enough signing to cause them too much grief. Nevertheless, there are certainly fans (and non-fans) who have strong feelings one way or another.
One thing I know is that Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin is consistently someone who believes in second chances. He is giving Sutton a second chance. But that chance is only because he believes Sutton can help his football team on the field. Tomlin privately communicated with him off the field, but giving him a job is an entirely different level.
