Cam Sutton Could be Steelers' Next Contract Extension
We are now officially one month away from the NFL's regular season starting and newly promoted Pittsburgh Steelers general manager Omar Khan has been a busy man.
Unlike his predecessor in recent years, Khan has worked swiftly to knock out contract extensions before the season begins. This started in mid-June when he awarded Minkah Fitzpatrick with a record-setting deal. Since then, he's signed both Chris Bozwell and Diontae Johnson to contract extensions.
Is Khan's work done this summer or could another deal be on the horizon?
Typically, when discussing potential extensions, you're looking for players entering the last year of their current contract. NFL teams will occasionally make an exception to that rule, usually for elite players at premier positions such as quarterbacks. However, when you look at the Steelers current roster landscape, there aren't many names that immediately pop out in terms of players that need extensions. There's one name, in particular, though, that makes sense, and that's fifth-year cornerback Cam Sutton.
Back in March of 2021, Sutton signed a two-year, $9 million dollar contract with Pittsburgh shortly after free agency opened. With the release of Steven Nelson, Sutton was slated to becomes the teams starter at outside cornerback. In 2022, Sutton registered over 600 coverage snaps which was second on the team behind only Terrell Edmunds.
There were undoubtedly some growing pains for him on the outside after playing more as a utility man in years prior, as a slot corner and dime backer. Sutton finished his first campaign as a starter on a high note, allowing just six completions for 40 yards and one touchdown over his final four regular season games, per sports info solutions.
Sutton's a valuable piece for any secondary due to his extreme versatility. During his career in Pittsburgh, he's spent time as a slot corner, a dime backer and occasionally even rotating deep as a safety for a handful of snaps. While not a star, Every defensive coach in the National Football League would gladly take a guy like him on their roster.
Few players are more versatile in the back end than Sutton and that speaks to both his film study and intelligence. This is what likely what drew the Steelers to become so infatuated with his abilities prior to the 2017 NFL Draft. During a pre-draft meeting with Kevin Colbert and Mike Tomlin, Sutton had both in awe, according to his former college coach Butch Jones.
Going through multiple games, Sutton was able to explain the defensive front, the coverage and everyone on the fields responsibilities. After the interview, Jones said that Tomlin asked to speak with him before explaining that "in all of my years of coaching, I've never been through an interview like that. He could tell us everything."
Communication is a huge part of being successful on defense especially at this level. As a primarily zone defense, Sutton's likely even more valuable to Pittsburgh because of his ability to understand the scheme at a high level. In zone, you have to be hyper aware of route concepts developing in front of you while also feeling out what's happening behind you at the same time.
Currently, the former Volunteers star is the only corner on the roster that has experience playing both inside and outside. They have plenty of guys that can do one or the other but Sutton stands alone when it comes to positional versatility.
When the Steelers signed Levi Wallace during free agency, many wondered if his reign on the outside would end seeing as Wallace was coming off a career year in Buffalo as the team's de-facto CB1 on the outside after Tre White was lost for the season. However, Wallace missed a chunk of practice at training camp due to an illness, and Sutton is currently listed alone as the starter at right cornerback.
The Steelers have never been too interested in selecting corners early in the NFL Draft process, instead focusing on the trenches and relying on their pass rush as a strength. Sutton's a perfectly capable CB2/CB3 who isn't going to be too expensive to keep around but he prevents them from feeling like they must draft for need out of desperation.
As hard as it is to believe, Cam Heyward is the only tenured Steelers defensive starter that's been around longer than Sutton as Pittsburgh continues to move through a youth movement on both sides of the ball. Extending Sutton now would prove smart for the organization as he offers some stability in the back end. Having missed just two games since 2018, Sutton's been both reliable and dependable. Keeping in the black and gold should be a priority moving forward.
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