The news of the eight-game suspension for veteran cornerback Cameron Sutton came swiftly and harshly Monday for the Pittsburgh Steelers, causing them to lose a potential key piece of their secondary for the first eight weeks of the season.
Immediately, the discussion shifted toward a potential reunion with veteran cornerbacks Patrick Peterson or Chandon Sullivan as the Steelers once again have a glaring need in the slot.
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s Brian Batko, during an appearance on The Joe Show on 93.7 The Fan Tuesday with host Paul Zeise, says he “wouldn’t bet” on a reunion with one of those guys happening in light of the suspension.
Instead, Batko sees the Steelers giving young guys like rookie undrafted free agent Beanie Bishop and free agent signing Grayland Arnold a shot in the slot, not to mention a veteran like Josiah Scott — at least for now.
“I still think that I wouldn’t bet on that because if, if they would’ve preferred that option, then why wouldn’t they have just done that instead of Sutton to begin with?” Batko said of a possible Peterson or Sullivan reunion, according to 93.7 The Fan on YouTube. “You wouldn’t even have had to deal with the bad look of signing him and the optics and the PR of it all.
“So that kind of makes me think that they actually prefer Sutton maybe as a player, or at least at the price point that they’re gonna have him and despite not having him now for the first eight games.”
The Steelers are familiar with Peterson and Sullivan, so that’s where the speculation regarding a reunion stems from. Peterson played 1,096 snaps last season for the Steelers defensively, good for 97% of the snaps. Sullivan played 422 snaps last season for Pittsburgh at a 37% clip.
Both held down key roles in the secondary, especially down the stretch with Peterson dabbling in the slot, on the perimeter and at safety, moving around late in the season to help plug holes while wearing different hats. Sullivan played 348 snaps in the slot last season, while Peterson played 208 snaps in the slot in 2023.
Sutton was brought back after being released by the Detroit Lions in March immediately following the report of an arrest warrant in Florida for an alleged domestic violence incident in Hillsborough County, which led to police being unable to contact or locate Sutton for two weeks.
Ultimately, he turned himself in and had the felony domestic violence charge reduced to a misdemeanor battery, to which he then entered into a pre-trial diversion program.
The Steelers’ signing of Sutton to a one-year contract during the final week of Organized Team Activities in early June for the veteran minimum led to some backlash due to the allegations against Sutton. Ultimately the Steelers felt comfortable with their due diligence on the matter and comfortable with the person they were signing in Sutton.
Now though, they have to prepare for life without him for eight weeks due to his suspension, which undoubtedly throws a wrench into things. Fortunately for the Steelers, there are some solid, experienced veterans on the market at the position who could help the Steelers early in the year, like Peterson or Sullivan.
We’ll see if they make a move to address the position now that Sutton has his suspension in head. Batko isn’t betting on it though.
