Cam Sutton is ‘Grateful’ For a Second Chance With the Steelers After His Off-The-Field Issues This Offseason

When the Pittsburgh Steelers decided to re-sign cornerback Cam Sutton this offseason it sparked a debate due to Sutton’s recent off-the-field issues. Sutton had an arrest warrant issued in Florida this offseason due to a domestic abuse complaint. This caused the Detroit Lions to release Sutton despite signing him to a three-year deal the year prior. After he turned himself in, he was charged with a misdemeanor battery charge and was released from jail.

Now that he is back in Pittsburgh, Sutton is just ready to persevere through the adversity and come out on the other side with a positive attitude. Though that will come after sitting out the first eight games of the season as Sutton was suspended by the league for violating the NFL’s Personal Conduct Policy.

“The biggest thing is that adversity strikes everyone in life,” Sutton said. “It’s about how you handle that and how you necessarily go through those phases, knowing who you are individually and not letting someone else dim your light. I always talk about being a free spirit, just being of that natural spirit not just for yourself but everyone around you. It’s not losing the sense of who I am in that phase. It’s the continuity of just enjoying, there’s so much to be grateful for and so much opportunity, and as I said with blessings to be a part of, so just continue to ride the wave on that end, and just keep living my life out.”

While the initial contact between the team and Sutton was more of a wellness-check, the prior relationship that was already built led him to a job opportunity after the Steelers did their necessary investigation.

“I can’t really speak on that too much with the league or that stance but team-wise, again just the connection-wise, staying in contact,” Sutton said. “It was more of a check-in, wellness check-in, just making sure I’m fine, checking in with my family – things like that. Then obviously opportunities lead to the next.”

While the Steelers needed to iron out the details of Sutton’s legal situation, Mike Tomlin was already comfortable in reuniting with one of his guys. Tomlin noted that the prior connection with Sutton helped them come to the agreement to target him as a free agent.

“There are not any conversations that [Sutton and I] had recently. It’s the totality of our relationship,” Tomlin said. “I met this guy in Knoxville man six, seven years ago, whatever it was, when he came out of school. He’s a great guy. He loves football. It’s probably the totality of our relationship and I probably represent the sentiment of the organization and saying that it’s less about specific conversations, particularly of late, and it’s about the relationship established over a longer period of time.”

Regardless of his off-the-field issues, Sutton is likely to immediately slide in as the starting slot cornerback upon his return from suspension. Sutton is a part of a core group of defensive veterans that the Steelers brought in this offseason but one that is familiar to some of the Steelers players.

One of those guys is Minkah Fitzpatrick who backed Sutton after his signing and said that he is in probably the best place that he could be right now, which is around the team and his teammates.

“We all have things we go through,” Fitzpatrick said when asked about the Sutton signing. “I think one of the best things about being in a locker room is that you have 52 other dudes that can help you get through whatever it is. We love Cam, he’s a great dude. We all have our flaws and our situations, but we’re gonna embrace him. Treat him like he never left.”

With Sutton out for the first eight games of the season, the Steelers are looking for a short-team answer at slot cornerback. They have a couple of capable guys on the roster including Josiah Scott and undrafted free agent Beanie Bishop Jr. vying for the role but the winner of the competition will not be known until after the preseason concludes.

20 • Cam Sutton, Cornerback, Tennessee
5-foot-11, 188 pounds, 29 years old, 8th Season

Acquired: The Steelers originally drafted Cam Sutton in the third round of the 2017 NFL Draft. He played with the Steelers until the end of the 2022 season when he signed with the Detroit Lions. A season later, the Steelers re-signed Sutton to a one-year contract.

Last season: In his lone season as a Detroit Lion, Cam Sutton started all 17 games, mainly at outside corner, and logged a career-high 65 tackles, one interception, six defended passes and one forced fumble. He allowed the second-worse passer rating of his career in 2023 with a passer rating of 113.9, per Pro Football Focus.

The Lions released Sutton in March after an arrest warrant was issued for Sutton relating to a domestic abuse situation.

Cameron Sutton signals to his teammates as the Steelers face the Ravens on Jan. 1, 2022 in Baltimore. (Mitchell Northam / Steelers Now)

Career: Cam Sutton was drafted in the third round of the 2017 NFL Draft by the Steelers. As a rookie, Sutton appeared in five games and started one of them. His playing time went up in 2018 as he appeared in 15 games and started one more game. He tallied his first interception to go along with three defended passes and one forced fumble.

In 2019, Sutton played in all of the Steelers games but did not start any of them. He hauled in an interception and caused five incompletions. The 2020 season is when Sutton started to become a starter in the Steelers secondary. He started six of his 16 appearances and logged 30 tackles, one interception, eight defended passes and a career-high three forced fumbles.

In 2021, Sutton became a full-time started as he started 16 of his 16 appearances. He followed that up by starting 15 of his 16 games in 2022.

Over his first seven years in the league, Sutton has played in 101 games and started 56 of them. He has logged 233 combined tackles, nine interceptions, 44 passes defended and five forced fumbles.

College: Cam Sutton played his collegiate football at the University of Tennessee and made an immediate impact on the program. Sutton earned full-time starting duties as a true freshman and started all 12 games in the Vols’ secondary. In 12 games, Sutton made 39 tackles, hauled in two interceptions and defended nine passes.

Sutton followed an impressive freshman season up with an equally dominate sophomore season. In 13 starts, Sutton recorded 37 tackles, one forced fumble, a career-high three interceptions and career and team-high 16 defended passes. He finished fourth in the SEC in defended passes.

In 2015, Sutton started all 13 of the Vols’ games again. This time he finished with 28 combined tackles, one interception, seven defended passes and two forced fumbles.

As a senior, Sutton missed six games due to injury but started the rest of the team’s seven games. He tallied 23 tackles, one interception and five defended passes.

Sutton started all 45 games of his Volunteer career and finished as the school’s all-time leader in passes defended with 37. He finished his UT career with 127 combined tackles, 13 tackles for loss, one sack, seven interceptions, three forced fumbles and 30 pass breakups.

Salary cap and future: Cam Sutton signed back with the Steelers on a veteran minimum contract, meaning he will earn more than what his cap hit is. He will earn $1.21 million in total money but will only cost $985,000 against the team’s cap space. He will become a free agent following this season.

The rest of the 90: