Last year, the Pittsburgh Steelers had to make the emergency move of shifting Patrick Peterson from corner to safety. This year, they’re getting ahead of that potential problem. Starting Wednesday and continuing throughout the week, Cam Sutton has been a safety instead of a cornerback. Once he’s back from suspension, and should the Steelers get rocked with injuries like they did in 2023, Sutton would be the man on the move.
Pittsburgh entered training camp with a relatively thin safety group. For a 91-man roster, they came to Saint Vincent College with just six of them, the bare minimum a team really should have entering the summer. There are starters Minkah Fitzpatrick and DeShon Elliott, veteran backup Damontae Kazee, special teams ace Miles Killebrew, rookie Ryan Watts switching from corner, and Reserve/Futures Nate Meadors. Pittsburgh released two safeties during the spring in Trenton Thompson and Jalen Elliott, not replacing either with another safety.
With Minkah Fitzpatrick limited this week and the Steelers being even shorter, Sutton has gotten extra looks. During individual drills, he’s worked with the safeties instead of the corners, and he’s played there throughout the team period. He’s looked comfortable and natural, jumping a route over the middle and picking off QB Kyle Allen to the constant praise of Mike Tomlin, repeating “Huge play!” in Sutton’s direction multiple times.
Sutton has played quasi-safety before. During his first stint with Pittsburgh, he was either used as a dime defender or kicked from outside corner to the slot/dime in obvious passing situations. In that spot, the Steelers utilized him as a chess piece, often rotating to the deep half or middle as Fitzpatrick spun down to take away crossing routes. Go all the way back to coming out of Tennessee, and our 2017 Senior Bowl notes charted him playing safety and corner.
“Cam Sutton looks like a natural safety to me. Browns’ coaches were happy with his angles to the ball in the deep half. He’s done well this week.
Tennessee’s Cam Sutton did a little bit of everything today. Designated as a corner by the roster, he went through safety drills and then rolled down into the slot in 7 on 7s when the defense would use a single high safety. We’ll keep an eye on where he ends up the rest of the week.”
He’s doing similar seven years later in Latrobe. Pittsburgh’s depth at safety isn’t great. Kazee is a fine backup and favorite to begin the year as the dime defender. But one injury to him or a starter in front would stress the Steelers’ flexibility. Watts has looked good for a sixth-round rookie making a position change, but defensive snaps could still be too big of an ask. Cory Trice Jr. is an interesting dime piece, but there’s lots more to learn about him, barely more than one year removed from tearing his ACL (again). Sutton could be plug ‘n play at free safety if required.
At least when he’s allowed to. The biggest hang-up is his eight-game suspension that won’t put him on the field until after the team’s Week 10 bye. Until then, he’s of little help for the team during the first half of the regular season. Prior to Sutton logging time at safety in camp, his reps were limited, and he played behind Beanie Bishop Jr., Grayland Arnold, and Josiah Scott. Perhaps that’s because Sutton knows the system and needs less work or because his suspension meant looking at other players was more important.
Either way, the Steelers have found something useful to do with Sutton this summer. Work him at safety, get him more comfortable there, and have that in their back pocket in case they need an emergency option a la Peterson. And like Peterson last year, who played a fair bit of safety while Fitzpatrick was unavailable for personal reasons, Sutton can lean on his summer reps to get himself back up to speed.
