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90 In 30: Steelers 2024 Training Camp Preview Series — Cameron Sutton, Cory Trice Jr., Jonathan Ward

By Dave Bryan

Posted on July 15, 2024 at 7:15 am

The Pittsburgh Steelers’ 2024 offseason practices concluded in the middle of June. Next up is the team’s annual training camp, which gets underway in the latter part of July at Saint Vincent College in Latrobe. Ahead of Steelers training camp, we will preview the team’s offseason roster three players at a time as part of a multi-post series. This Steelers roster preview, which includes outlooks for every player, will be done alphabetically by last name to make it easy to follow. This series figures to exceed 90 players this year as the team can carry 91 players in total during the offseason due to the allowance of one international player designation.

The next set of players we will preview ahead of the Steelers’ 2024 training camp are Cameron Sutton, Cory Trice Jr., and Jonathan Ward.

CB Cameron Sutton: The Steelers signed Sutton to a one-year contract for the veteran minimum in early June. That signing came on the heels of Sutton having his contract terminated by the Detroit Lions in March following a domestic violence incident that involved the Steelers’ former third round draft pick in 2017 out of Tennessee.

After finally turning himself in in late March, Sutton was charged with misdemeanor battery and entered the batterers’ intervention program, a pretrial diversion program in early April. In early July, Sutton was suspended for the first eight games of the 2024 regular season for violating the NFL’s personal conduct policy. He chose not to appeal his suspension.

Including the playoffs last season with the Lions, Sutton, who had signed a three-year, $33 million contract with Detroit in March of 2023, recorded 73 total tackles, five for loss, one interception, nine passes defensed and a forced fumble in 1,261 total defensive snaps played. Mainly playing on the outside last season with the Lions, Sutton’s coverage grade from Pro Football Focus was a lowly 49.0. He was charged by PFF as allowing 77 receptions for 1,173 yards and eight touchdowns on the season.

Sutton spent his first six NFL seasons with the Steelers and during that span he played in 84 regular season games with 39 starts. He also played in three playoff games with the Steelers and started two of those contests.

Outlook: With Sutton now set to miss the first eight games of the 2024 regular season due to a suspension, the Steelers’ Week 10 game against the Washington Commanders will be the first contest that he’ll presumably be able to play in. This assumes that the team keeps him on their Reserve/Suspended list until then as well and there’s no real reason to think that won’t happen ahead of training camp getting underway.

Sutton’s best fit in the Steelers’ defense is likely in the slot and it will be interesting to see what the team does at that position throughout the first half of the regular season. If things go well in the first eight games, Sutton might not be an instant contributor once his suspension is served. If, however, things don’t go well for the Steelers at slot cornerback in their first eight games, Sutton might be thrust full-time into that position beginning in Week 10.

Sutton has experience playing on the outside in addition to in the slot. Even so, he is coming off a poor season with the Lions that mostly included him playing on the outside. The Steelers don’t have very much invested in Sutton so his half-season suspension makes it tough to predict how much he will ultimately play in 2024. He’s not the same player that he was a few seasons ago when he was with the Steelers.

CB Cory Trice Jr.: Selected by the Steelers in the seventh round of the 2023 NFL Draft out of Purdue, Trice spent his entire rookie season on the team’s Reserve./Injured list due to a torn ACL suffered during training camp last summer. Trice was seemingly having a good start of training camp at the time of his injury, and he quickly underwent surgery to repair it.

Trice played in 30 games over five seasons for Purdue. He registered 90 total tackles, four for loss, five interceptions, and 15 passes defensed during his college career. A 2023 NFL Scouting Combine invitee, Trice measured in at a little over 6-foot-3, 205 pounds while in Indianapolis. He ran his 40-yard dash in 4.47-seconds and also posted a short-shuttle time of 4.06-seconds and a three-cone time of 6.70 seconds.

Trice seemingly slipped down 2023 draft boards due to his injury history in college. He played in only two games in 2021 due to a knee injury.

Outlook: Trice was back on the practice field throughout the summer and the hope is that he’ll be deemed ready to participate fully in practices once the Steelers’ 2024 training camp gets underway. Assuming that’s the case, Trice will look to pick up where he left off last year before sustaining his knee injury.

The Steelers need depth at the cornerback position and that means Trice should have a particularly good chance to secure a spot on the 53-man roster this summer. Showing that he can contribute on special teams this offseason would go a long way in helping him secure a roster spot.

Come the start of the preseason games, Trice certainly will be a player to pay very close attention to and especially with him failing to see time in the exhibition contests a year ago. Should Trice ultimately make the 53-man roster this summer, he could wind up logging some snaps on defense as the 2024 season progresses. At the very least, he would see plenty of action on special teams and potentially as a gunner and jammer on the punt coverage and return teams.

RB Jonathan Ward: The Steelers signed Ward to a one-year contract in May and that followed him participating in the team’s annual rookie minicamp as a veteran tryout player.

Originally signed in 2020 by the Arizona Cardinals as an undrafted free agent out of Central Michigan, Ward has played in 42 total regular-season games with zero starts. For the 2023 season, Ward was a member of the Tennessee Titans, and he played in seven games on his way to registering three carries for 11 yards.

Ward’s best season in the NFL to date was in 2021. As a member of the Cardinals, he registered nine carries for 33 yards to go along with three receptions for 34 yards that season. Ward will turn 27 years of age in September. He has played 70 total regular-season offensive snaps since entering the NFL and 553 more on special teams.

Outlook: The path to the Steelers-53-man roster will be a tough one this summer for Ward. Currently, the top of the running back depth chart includes Najee Harris, Jaylen Warren, and Cordarrelle Patterson, who will also be the team’s kickoff returner. Barring injuries, the Steelers would essentially need to keep a fourth running back in addition to those three for Ward to have a chance at making the 53-man roster to open the regular season.

Ward will also have plenty of other competition this summer as the Steelers’ offseason roster also includes several other running backs in La’Mical Perine, Aaron Shampklin, and rookie Daijun Edwards, one of five undrafted free agents signed by the team a few months ago. While Ward has only played 73 total offensive snaps in the NFL to date, he has logged 548 more on special teams. While not regarded as a special teams asset overall, at least he has experience in that phase of the game.

While Ward should receive some playing time during the preseason, assuming he remains on the roster that long, the reality of his situation this summer is that he’s likely competing for a spot on the practice squad to open the 2024 regular season.

Previous Posts In This Series:

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