The Pittsburgh Steelers knew they were walking into a potential PR nightmare when they signed CB Cameron Sutton this offseason. After all, alleged domestic violence is never something people want to be associated with. While the felony charge was reduced to a misdemeanor, Sutton was still suspended eight games for violating the NFL’s personal conduct policy. That’s a hefty suspension.
What made it more puzzling was that Sutton waived his right to appeal, accepting the suspension without contest. It’s quite common for players to appeal suspensions in the NFL and see their sentences reduced. Why didn’t Sutton?
“I’m reading between the lines here because, again, the league doesn’t disclose a lot of this stuff,” Ray Fittipaldo of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette said on the Joe Starkey Show Friday morning. “But I think they felt what he did was a fairly serious offense. And I think, through back channels, they probably told him, ‘Hey, listen, we can give you 12. You could plead it down and appeal it. Maybe it’ll be eight, maybe it’ll be 10. Or we could just give you eight and you can’t appeal it.’ So I think it was one of those deals.”
Fittipaldo brought up a similar situation with former Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger back in 2010. He was initially suspended for six games and successfully appealed to get it reduced to four. So there might be something to some sort of back-room deal between Sutton and the NFL for him to not appeal. Perhaps the appeal was already done informally?
Whether that’s the case or Sutton simply chose not to pursue the matter, the reality is that he and NFL recognized that he did something very wrong. Now he will miss essentially the first half of the season. He will be able to practice throughout training camp and even play in preseason if the Steelers wish to use him.
The Steelers also need to prepare for how they will address the slot corner position for those first eight games. Will it be an option on the roster? Undrafted rookie free agent Beanie Bishop could fit the role. Or it could be Josiah Scott, whom The Athletic’s Mark Kaboly reported had been the first-team slot corner before the Steelers signed Sutton?
Or could the Steelers turn to an old friend in Patrick Peterson? Regardless of what avenue the Steelers pursue, they had to know what they were facing when they brought Sutton back into the fold.
Yes, Sutton was a good corner for the Steelers during his first stint with the team. In six seasons, he had eight interceptions, 38 pass breakups, five forced fumbles, one fumble recovery, 168 total tackles, eight tackles for a loss, and two sacks. That’s darn good production.
But Sutton won’t be on the field for the first half of the season because of his choices. And the Steelers chose to sign him, which doesn’t fix the slot corner position at least until the midway point of the season.
