Steelers CB Patrick Peterson Shoots Down Retirement Questions

When the Steelers signed 33-year-old Patrick Peterson to a 2-year deal, they had to know that there could be an impending retirement option for the future Hall of Famer following the 2023 season. However, don’t ask Peterson that question. He has no plans to call it a career.

On the All Things Covered Podcast, Peterson revealed that he loves playing football and feels he has plenty of juice left in the tank. That would mean no retirement for him following the season. Part of it is to fulfill an obligation, but another is the fact that Peterson thinks he can play a long time.

“No, I don’t think so,” Peterson said. “I feel like if I get to that point now before the season I’m not prepared. My mind is in the wrong place. As of now, my body feels well. My body is clicking on all cylinders,. I’m not looking at it. I signed a two year deal, and I like to fulfill my obligations. At the end of the day, we’ll see performance wise what happens. But my plan is to play out these two seasons and see what happens after that.”

Peterson is coming off a great season with the Minnesota Vikings where he revived his career in a big way. But more so, Peterson did note that earlier this year, Mike Tomlin makes him feel like he could play even longer.

”It’s been so fun for me because that’s been something that I never really did,” Peterson said. “I am a ball player. You can plug me in anywhere and I can make it work. To finally come in with Coach Tomlin and have him explore other attributes of my game, it’s just going make me, probably, want to play even longer.”

Peterson will be the leader of an extremely young cornerback room. But the secondary should greatly benefit from the ability from that veteran presence that Peterson brings.