Former Steelers LB Arthur Moats Says Omar Khan Showed Savvy Skills Letting Cam Sutton Leave

The NFL tampering period began and the Pittsburgh Steelers are known to be rather cautious in free agency, not making a lot of moves. That doesn't mean that the Steelers players that are free agents aren't making moves of their own. On Monday, that included free agent cornerback Cam Sutton leaving Pittsburgh to head to the Detroit Lions. 

Sutton reportedly got a three-year $33 million deal from the Lions. The former Steelers linebacker Arthur Moats addressed Sutton leaving on his podcast, The Arthur Moats Experience, saying that the Steelers made the right decision.  

Pittsburgh Steelers Don't Waste Money According To Moats

The former Steeler has talked about the possibility of Sutton being re-signed by Pittsburgh multiple times. He has maintained that he feels that he is a good fit for Pittsburgh at $7-8 million a year, not the roughly $11 million he is getting from Detroit. 

"Just depends on if you want to stomach 11 (million), we talked about liking him at seven, eight, nine being the high end. When we saw that double-digit report was a couple weeks ago and they said his mark could be 10-12 M's we said 'whoa.' But we said, at the same time he plays corner, he's a good corner, he was productive, a lot of positional flexibility and teams need corners. That's why they get paid and sometimes overpaid." 

Moats feels that the new GM, Omar Khan, flexed his financial muscles on Monday and did the right thing for the organization by not re-signing him. 

"I don't knock Omar Khan for deciding not to pay Cam Sutton 11 a year. Is Cam a good player? Absolutely. Is Cam a great player? Nah."

He goes on to say that it is easy for fans to make a case for overpaying Sutton but they aren't thinking about the big picture. 

"You could make a case for 11 mil. if you think of what he brings to the table. He started outside corner and was our best outside corner. He starts in the slot and he's our best slot. You put him back at safety and he's one of our better safeties. You know he's one of the most sure tackles that we have, one of the most smart players on our defense, one of the leaders on our defense, and just a good dude. You don't have any nonsense with him. So if you wanted to make the case that you would pay him because he's homegrown or because of what he is developing into, sure you can make that case."

"But at the same time you gotta take into account if you're paying Cam 11, what does that take away from other positions? Is Cam a good player, yes but is Cam a force multiplier to that extent? That's the game you start playing when you pay Cam 11 at our current structure."  

Moats says the Steelers need to stay the course and stick with their plan.

"But there is a reason we don't want to spend 11 for him, there's a reason, and you don't just spend it because 'oh man he left' now we're having that fear we lost something. Nah, it's like you were definitely appreciated, we aren't talking down on him. But 11 changes what you do and what you can do roster-wise for a Cam Sutton-type player." 

Moats said he was shocked that Sutton was the first big corner to be signed. He expected James Bradberry from the Philadelphia Eagles to be the CB that set the market since he is coming off a Super Bowl. He thought Bradberry would be getting about $11 million, but now he expects Bradberry to demand even more than Sutton.

"It's not a shot at Cam Sutton, we're just saying that Cam Sutton is very different than what Minkah (Fitzpatrick) and TJ (Watt) bring to the table. You don't overpay for good players, if it's a great player you make a case for that. But for the good players, you don't want to take that approach. Because that's how you hurt your roster. That's how you have guys getting too much money who aren't able to be force multipliers or able to deal with some of the unicorns you need to deal with."  

What do you think of Moats' comments on Sutton leaving? Do you agree it was wise to let him go if the price tag was $11 million? Now that we know Patrick Peterson has been signed how do you think his play will compare with Sutton's? Comment below. 

#SteelerNation