Pittsburgh Steelers cornerback Cam Sutton has been reinstated from his eight-game suspension, the NFL announced on Tuesday.
NFL commissioner Roger Goodell, who doled out Sutton’s suspension, has granted the Steelers a roster exemption for him that runs through Monday, Nov. 4, so he will not immediately count against the 53-man roster.
The Steelers are on a bye this week, so Sutton’s exemption will likely only cover one practice on Wednesday. The team will be off Thursday through Sunday and have a second bye practice on Monday before their Week 10 work begins next Wednesday.
Sutton will likely join rookie Beanie Bishop in the rotation at slot cornerback, and the team could go back to using a traditional four-cornerback Dime package. They have been using strong safety Terrell Edmunds for a three-safety Heavy Dime look since Cory Trice Jr. was injured.
Bishop, an undrafted rookie out of West Virginia, has been making his case to stay in the rotation with three interceptions over the last two games.
Sutton was suspended eight weeks after he was arrested for domestic violence in Florida earlier this offseason. He spent several weeks wanted by Florida sheriffs, and during that time, was released by the Detroit Lions.
Sutton’s charges were later reduced to a misdemeanor, and he entered a pre-trial diversion program that included admitting guilt. The NFL independently investigated the allegations and confirmed that Sutton violated the league’s policy, resulting in the eight-game suspension, two more than the mandatory minimum of six.
The Steelers re-signed Sutton after the charges were reduced. He spent all of the rest of the offseason with the Steelers, and was an active participant in training camp and preseason, though he did not get much work at slot cornerback, as the team was focused on getting Bishop ready to start the regular season.
The team’s third-round pick out of Tennessee in the 2017 NFL Draft, Sutton spent his first six seasons in Pittsburgh before signing a three-year deal with the Lions in 2023. He ended up only playing one season in Detroit.